Commission Hosts Works of Pet Portraiture, Master Woodcarver

Jackson, Mississippi – On Wednesday, September 1, 2010, pet portraiture artist Dyann Gunter and Master Woodcarver George Berry, Sr.’s exhibit will open at the Mississippi Library Commission and continue through Friday, October 29, 2010. An opening reception is set for Thursday, September 16, from 5 –7 p.m. at the Library Commission which is located at 3881 Eastwood Drive, on the grounds of the Education & Research Center in Jackson. The exhibit can be viewed Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

Currently residing in Ridgeland, Dyann Gunter has been painting since the age of five. She attended Hinds Community College, University of Southern Mississippi, and Memphis Academy of Arts where she majored in fine art. Over the past 30 years Gunter has attended workshops and figure drawing classes with artists such as Daniel Green, Bobby Pennebaker and Jerrod Partridge.

Gunter says she is mostly self-taught, “I learn by doing,” she said. Most of her work hangs at Summerhouse in Ridgeland, where the owner recommended that she contact Alex Malouf at John-Richard, an art and furniture manufacturer out of Greenwood, Mississippi and submit some of her art. Last October, In High Pointe, North Carolina, Neiman Marcus and Horchow picked up five (5) pieces of her art from a John-Richard showroom. “I think it is amazing that a painting I did in my kitchen is now being sold by Neiman Marcus!” John-Richard now has about 40 pieces of Gunter’s artwork.


Visit Dyann Gunter’s colorful pet portrait gallery at http://www.dyanngunter.com/

Originally from Vinita, Oklahoma, Berry moved to Mississippi in 1970 to teach Industrial Arts at the Piney Woods Country Life School. The youngest of eight children, his father taught him, at the age of six, how to manage a knife and his woodcarving career began. He is a charter member of the Craftsmen Guild of Mississippi, the National Woodcarvers Association, and is a frequent instructor at the prestigious Allison’s Wells School of Arts and Crafts.
Berry was the artist who carved the sculptures for the 1996 and 1997 Mississippi Governor’s Awards for Excellence. In 2001, Berry was the recipient of the Governor’s Awards for Excellence in The Arts, Artists’ Achievement Award. He believes, “Nothing is worth doing if it is not worth fighting for. My carving is a never ending task, for each piece I finish; I look for some fault so that I may do a better job on the next piece.”


Visit George Berry’s STALLION in his gallery at http://www.georgeberry.biz/

For More Information Contact:
Gloria J. Washington, Public Affairs Director
Mississippi Library Commission
601-432-4056 or 1-800-647-7542
Fax: 601.432.4482
gloriajw@mlc.lib.ms.us
Website: http://www.mlc.lib.ms.us/

About the Mississippi Library Commission
The Mississippi Library Commission is a state agency with the mission to ensure all Mississippians have access to quality library service. The agency operates a large library providing direct and indirect library services, consults with and advises local entities on library issues, supports electronic access to information through public libraries, and manages state and federal grant programs for public libraries. For more information, visit the Library Commission’s website at http://www.mlc.lib.ms.us/.