Art Gallery Opening

Gallery Opening Details -Friday 8/2, Art Opening & Artist Reception 5-8pm (taproom open 3pm-12am) -Artist Meet-and-Greet -Charcuterie fixin's available complimentary in the North Wing -Karaoke following, around 8pm-12am

"Look Closer" Born and raised in rural Spring Creek, Virginia, I've been enamoured by and communed with the outdoors all of my life. Hiking, camping, "creek walking,"and lazing around for days under canopies of willow trees by our backyard stream formed the most integral parts of who I am.

As a child I would notice small things in nature that would often go unseen by others, whether it was the intricate, microscopic flower bud on a common weed, or an almost transparent, easily missed spider dancing on an inch of some rugged tree bark. It became like a private game between Mother Nature and me, to notice the tiniest, most obscure things that I could.

At some point I started taking photos, just for me, to have chronicled memories captured of all of the fantastic things I'd seen. Born with a perpetual travel bug, and having been lucky enough to live in the UK (briefly) and Central America, in addition to the U.S., there has never been a shortage of new and interesting terrain to explore and photograph in my world.

My specific fascinations have always varied, waxing and waning from one year to the next; it would be all things botanical, then celestial, rocks, insects....the obsessions were ever changing but all left imprints upon me. Mushrooms only really caught my eye about a decade ago and have been actively starring in my photography ever since. It's less about foraging and more about discovering for me. The incredible array of fungi that Virginia alone boasts is one of our state's greatest gifts!

I've been in awe of ruins since I was young as well. As a teenager, (once I had my hands on some car keys), I began occasionally wandering through broken down buildings and houses; the hobby increased in both interest and action throughout the years. I still become extra enthralled anytime I find a disintegrating structure being almost thoroughly taken back by nature; to me there is something incredibly soothing in man-made structures being engulfed in ivy, creeper, or kudzu, or seeing small trees grow out of a former industrial plant...... in knowing that the earth can restore its own balance.

My abandoned building collection is my largest, having explored hundreds of crumbling properties, including schools, churches, and even plane wreckages.

It's hard to explain exactly what catches my eye; to say I see loveliness in "unexpected places" is incredibly cliche, but there's an element of truth to it. There's always been comfort in the unusual and unseen. When a photograph reveals itself to me when I'm out exploring, I simply have to stop and take the time, even if I never touch the majority of the shots again. It's really all about the moment.

I encourage people to "Look Closer" at literally everything around you, especially the miniscule (for that's where most of the good stuff is hidden). Real, astonishing beauty is in nature's details, from the vibrancy of new growth to the mutable states in between pristine and natural decay.

The majority of this particular collection was taken locally within the Virginias and Carolinas, with the exception of the western landscapes.

I hope you enjoy it. Nothing goes better with the beauty of nature, in my humble opinion, than a great craft beverage.

JN Art is the photography of valley local, J. Nicole. J. Nicole Clatterbuck is a former teacher, a sometimes jewelry designer, sometimes nature photographer, sometimes writer, and caretaker in the Shenandoah Valley. She's also an avid hiker (completing well over 300 miles in 2023) a serious craft beer enthusiast (having been to over 500 breweries and counting), and a passionate gardener and plant mom. She can consistently be found in the mountains, the woods, vending at a craft show, or at a brewery, with her amazing, always-by-her-side, best friend and partner, Greg. She has lived in a number of stunning places but will always count herself lucky to consider Virginia home.