This month Pluff Mudd Art Gallery celebrates the creative contemporary art of Donna Varner as its Artist of the Month.
Donna Varner is a mixed media artist, and a ten-year veteran of Pluff Mudd Art. Her formal education is in business (MBA, PhD from Ohio State). Prior to moving south from Columbus, Ohio, she had careers in retail merchandising and academia. In 2004 she left the business world to follow her muse. She has since traveled down a creative path that began with photography and expanded into other mediums.
Donna's art is experimental in nature and reflects her affinity for depth and texture. Visually complex, cerebral, and colorful, the art invites contemplation. The more you look, the more you see.
As a mixed media artist, the mediums that she mixes include painted collage papers, acrylic paints, various inks, photographs, graphite, and collected ephemera. Her methods incorporate painting, drawing, gluing, sanding, scraping, scribing, burning, and an abundance of experimentation—whatever her muses and the artwork move her to do. Her process is very much in-the-moment, where art and artist are in a dialogue. The result is artwork with deep history that invites you to discover its soul.
Donna has exhibited at local arts festivals and juried exhibitions, at ArtFields, Lake City, SC, and locally with Les Bonnes Artistes and the Art Beyond Tradition Group. She is currently exhibiting at USC-Beaufort, Center for the Arts with the Art Beyond Tradition Group. In addition to being a member of Pluff Mudd Art, she also shows her work at the Art League of Hilton Head.
Visit Pluff Mudd Art throughout May to see Donna’s work. Stop in on May 14 and 25 when she will be on duty. Meet the artist, learn about her process, and see her art in person. The more you look the more you see.
Pluff Mudd artists, John Crum and Donna Varner will be part of The Art Beyond Tradition Group’s biennial show, held this year at the gallery of the USC-Beaufort Performing Arts Center.
This year’s show is titled Visual Theatrics. Expect drama, movement, and the kind of high-performing art you’ve come to expect from ABT.
The show will be on view through June.
Art Beyond Tradition: “Visual Theatrics”
When: April 16 – June 27, 2024
Where: USCB Center for the Arts
805 Carteret St, Beaufort, SC 29902
Mayfest
on Calhoun Street, Old Town Bluffton
Saturday May 11, from 10 - 5
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bluffton
The Story of the Piano
In 2016, Vickie Jourdan contributed her painting skills to the HHSO League’s fundraiser for the Hilton Head International Piano Competition.
“PianoPalooza” consisted of six pianos donated to the HHIPC and painted by local artists. The pianos were displayed around town, then were moved March 1 to the Art League of Hilton Head gallery where they were available for bidding at silent auction.
A number of our Pluff Mudd partners pooled some funds, bid on, and won Vickie’s piano. It now graces our front porch, delighting many of our customers who sit and play and (sometimes) sing!
Another award for Pluff Mudd: In 2016, local newspaper, the Sun Today, named us "Most Eclectic Gallery". The prior year, the Sun Today, named us "Best Gallery" in their poll. For two years in a row (2014 and 2013), the Hilton Head Monthly Reader's Choice Awards, named Pluff Mudd as "Favorite Art Gallery in Bluffton". We've also received the Best of Bluffton awards (Bluffton Today, 2012 and 2014) as the "most eclectic gallery"! Can there be a more fun place to shop for art? Visit us next time you're in Bluffton and see why Pluff Mudd is a perennial favorite!
Visit us and see why people in the lowcountry love Pluff Mudd!
