Press Release
Mary Ann Browning Ford will be the Featured Artist for April at the Society of Bluffton Artists' gallery in Old Town Bluffton. The gallery will host “Abstract to Actual,” a display of the accomplished Lowcountry artist's varied styles. The show is open and free to the public.
The exhibit opens April 4 and runs through the end of the month. It will feature abstract and still life oil paintings and prints by Browning Ford, who was the “Best in Show” winner in SOBA's 2019 Judged Show.
“I am attracted to the quirky and unexpected I see around me,” says Browning Ford, who teaches art classes at SOBA, as well as the TidePointe and Bayshore senior living facilities.
Browning Ford is a scenic artist and set designer for USC Beaufort's Center of the Arts, and is also a juried member of the National Association of Women Artists. She has lived in the Lowcountry for the past nine years after 26 years operating a successful mural business in California.
“I have an expression I try to live by, and one I often tell my art students: Don't just look at the world around you — really see it,” says Browning Ford. “See and feel the fog as it starts to dissipate and swirl. See the deep dark, almost black and purple, in the woods as you drive by. See and appreciate the deformed and ugly. Only then will you appreciate the beauty and uniqueness in our world. There is color in even the dullest things.”
The public is invited to meet the artist during the show’s opening reception at the gallery on Saturday, April 9, from 5-7 p.m.
About The Society of Bluffton Artists:
SOBA is the heart of the flourishing art hub in Old Town Bluffton's historic district at the corner of Church and Calhoun streets. As a non-profit art organization, SOBA offers regular art classes, featured artist shows, exhibitions, scholarships, outreach programs and more. The gallery is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sundays. Please visit www.sobagallery.com for a complete calendar of events and other information or call 843-757-6586.
