Local creatives show off their talents in Orange County’s Studio Art Tour

Orange County’s annual two-weekend “Studio Art Tour” came to a close on Sunday. This year was the tour's 30th anniversary, featuring artwork from 95 local creatives. 

The annual tour is an opportunity for artists to display and sell their work, just in time for the holiday season, and for art lovers from near and far to bond over their shared passion.

The Orange County Artists Guild, created in 2000, is a non-profit organization featuring a wide variety of artists seeking to amplify their talents throughout The Triangle. The Guild welcomes new artists every year, with 10 new members on the Studio Tour in 2024. 

Customers were guided by a numbered map that listed different artist' homes to shop for any art they may be looking for.

The Studio Tour includes a wide variety of handmade art forms: sculptures, jewelry, pottery, paintings, stoneware, ceramics, mosaics and more.

Abstract sculpture artist Dan Murphy has shown off his work in the Studio Tour since its beginnings. His modern-esque sculptures primarily include wavy pieces of stainless steel, aluminum and other types of metal.

“I was on the first one in the '90s,” Murphy said. “Did that for a while, then I dropped out for a while. I’ve done about 22 of the 30.”

His artistic process has changed since he started sculpting. In the beginning, he would recreate many of his pieces depending on what people ordered from his catalog. 

“Now it’s totally different,” Murphy said. “Almost everything I do is one of a kind. I don’t sell as many sculptures, but I design way more sculptures.”

Murphy is known for receiving national attention for his abstract sculptures, as multiple of his pieces have been included in blockbuster films such as "The Wolf of Wall Street" and "The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay – Part 2".

Ronan Peterson, another local artist that has found success in his involvement with the Studio Tour, brought in 143 customers over the past two weekends. He has been an active part of the Studio Tour for just under 10 years.

Peterson’s expertise lies in functional earthenware pottery, creating vases, cups, bowls and more. Peterson specializes in low-fire ceramics, or pottery that is fired at lower temperatures which allows him more versatility with color and texture in his work.

Much of his pottery is also inspired by supernatural references, specifically from his father's comic book collection. Reading these comic books has inspired his incorporation of vibrant colors. 

Peterson creates his pottery in large groups, usually working on 50-100 pieces at one time.

“I would say larger pieces [take] three or four hours total, start to finish, but then I'm working on 20 other pieces to fill the time in,” Peterson said.

Similar to Peterson, R. Scott Horner is usually working on more than just one singular project.

“[Paintings] can stay in my studio for a month or two, and it's not constant work because I work on several paintings at the same time,” Horner said. “But I'll bring it to a certain point and then set it aside and come back to it later.”

Horner is a contemporary abstract painter, normally using bright, cool colors to portray his vision. 

This is Horner’s fourth Studio Tour, as he has painted professionally for just around 5 years — leaving his former occupation in newsprint as a graphic artist.

“It was a lot of straight lines and perfect circles and perfect squares,” Horner said. “And now doing abstract, it's more rejection of that and trying to be more human in the line work and in the paint.”

He draws inspiration from the nature around him, as his most recent work focuses on his interpretation of water over stones.

“There's a creek behind my house, which is dry now because it hasn't rained in a while, but when there is rain, there's water flowing over the rocks, and the rocks are nice and round,” Horner said. “In Battle Park, there's a larger creek, and I just enjoy walking to the creek and seeing how the water affects the rocks.”

Artists involved in the 2024 Orange County Artists Guild Studio Tour take inspiration from various sources, making each of their creations unique to their story.

For more information on the artists featured in the Orange County Artists Guild Studio Tour, visit the OCAG website. 

@dthlifestyle | lifestyle@dailytarheel.com