Library exhibit features Asberry

The Edmonds Arts Commission presents an exhibit at the Edmonds Library of mixed media and watercolor work by Augusta Asberry through the month of March.

Asberry’s love of art began in early childhood when as a grammar school student in Lake Charles, La. she would draw pictures during class instead of completing her assignments. During college she became interested in the work of artists Paul Klee, Miro, and Monet.

Following a career as a nurse she returned to college in Oakland, Calif. to pursue her passion for fashion design. She later moved to Bremerton with her family and began creating an historical document of old houses and farms in pastels.

Through an independent study of African fabrics and designs relating to the celebration of African rituals and dance, Asberry created her first “African Dancers” in 1992. These first Dancers were patterned after the crude figures found on the rocks and cave walls of Africa. Her investigative studies continue to provide exciting possibilities for the scope of her work as she explores African textile designs, cultural identity, religious rights, heritage and ancestral homage.

Using a variety of water based inks and paints she creates the brilliant and intricate designs that adorn the stylized figures that are Asberry’s original creations. The viewer is invited to linger a while, feel the movement of the Dance, and listen for the silent beat guiding the flow of their motion.

Asberry has been a member of the King and Kitsap County art communities since 1978, both as an artist and volunteer. Her designs have been translated into metal and paper sculptures and in 2006 she introduced a one-of-a-kind line of wearable art at the Silverdale Art Walk. Her work has been commissioned for public art and can be viewed at galleries in Bremerton, Port Orchard and Seattle.