Lori McAdams Chalkboard Barista Detail Scratchboard (Photos provided)

Southern Arts Society in Kings Mountain, NC, presents 'The Illustrated Line' an exhibition of works by Lori McAdams on view in the Reavis Gallery January 21 through February 28. Also, on view in the Founders Gallery are works by Alex Pietersen (photography), Terry Ratchford (colored pencil), Annie Sylling (painting) and Chris Tessnear (mixed media). The public is invited to meet the artists during a reception on Saturday January 25, from 6 - 8 pm.

Lori McAdams is an artist and illustrator based in Belmont NC. She has an artistic interest in antique items that is often reflected in her art. Using fine lines and a great sense of depth, Lori's sharp attention for detail brings the past into the present. She works mostly in scratchboard, watercolor, colored pencil and acrylic. With scratchboard, which is traditionally black and white, Lori often adds color to bring out the details in her work. Even when she works from present day inspirations, the graphic quality of her works lends an old world feel to them.

Old buildings, antique and consignment shops, quirky coffee shops and old bookstores are her main hunting grounds for subject matter. Old - and not necessarily expensive - jewelry makes for rich artworks. Older often repurposed buildings make for brick and stone portraits. Sometimes drawing an object leads to the answer "what is this odd thing?"

Part of this fascination with vintage subject matter resulted in her series of vintage hats, rendered in color with minute detail in watercolor and occasional acrylic. They are on view at this exhibit, and she plans to continue the series, while seeking secondary art projects to share them on.

Her scratchboard works are rendered in even more detail - with parallel fine lines creating the tonal varieties. While loving the graphic black and white drawings, she has branched out into using color - not simply for adding hue to the line drawings but using areas or color as the base ink to be scratched away.

One of her favorite projects is working on Southern Arts Society's annual calendars. Even though these are colorful, hand-pulled screen prints, she uses scratchboard for the original art, which is imaged onto the screen. The greatest challenge has been reigning in her usual detailed method, and creating simpler, yet effective, calendar pages.

Lori's work has been exhibited in these North Carolina Galleries: The Charlotte Art League in Charlotte; Southern Arts Society in Kings Mountain; Arts on Main in Gastonia; the Jeanne Rauch Gallery at Gaston College in Dallas; and the Railwalk Studios and Gallery in Salisbury. Lori graduated from Parsons School of Design (BFA), and MA UNC Charlotte (MA).

To see more about Lori and her art visit: www.mcadams-studio.com and lorimcadams.com

Southern Arts Society (SASi) Gift Shop & Gallery is located at 301 N. Piedmont Ave. at the intersection of Piedmont and Battleground Avenues, Kings Mountain, NC, in the historic Southern Railway Depot. SASi offers a gift shop, ongoing exhibits and art competitions, programs and classes in a variety of media for artists of all levels.