The Hinesville Area Arts Council on Thursday will host an art exhibit titled “It Leads you Here,” celebrating the work of Emily Scott-Graham.
Scott-Graham is not new to the art world; she began making art as a child, and her efforts led to her acceptance into her high school’s international baccalaureate art program as well as an associate’s degree in commercial art from Central Texas College.
“One of my earliest memories is of painting with Crayola water colors and an earthquake rumbled while I was painting a line, which made the line crooked,” Scott-Graham said.
She was born and raised in Southern California, but her travels across the nation began when she married her soldier husband, Andrew.
Since October she, Andrew and their two children, Zoe and Elias, have lived in the Hinesville area.
“I was inspired by my family and my travels throughout the United States in order to illustrate my personal story, but in a dream-like way,” she said. “For example, my children are portrayed as birds and my husband is portrayed as a mysterious rider with a ghost companion.”
Art serves as an outlet for Scott-Graham, who has turned her experiences with change, grief and love into the 28 pieces that will be displayed in the exhibit.
“Within,” the largest piece in the exhibit, was started after her mother died from breast cancer in 2007. Scott-Graham describes the piece as a “realistic interpretation of the human heart.”
“I think the grief and love you feel for a loved one is beautiful and intense, but when those feelings surface, they are very real and can’t be masked by a pretty package,” Scott-Graham said.
Another piece, “The Care and Feeding of Aves Tigris and Aves Equus,” is made up of three paintings and depicts her children as baby birds. It expresses the hardships that motherhood includes.
The exhibit is from 5:30-7 p.m. Thursday at 102 Commerce St., but the community is welcome to go to the gallery 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the Hinesville Area Arts Council.
“There is a quote that I love from Andy Warhol. He said, ‘Don’t think about making art, just get it done. Let everyone else decide if it’s good or bad, whether they love it or hate it. While they are deciding, make even more art,’” Scott-Graham said. “I think it’s a good observation. You can create something and if your work doesn’t come out the way you wanted, it’s OK because the next work you make will be an improvement.”