A well-known pair of Wetumpka artists have spent the past 18 months getting ready for their next exhibit at a major Alabama gallery.
According to Steve and Deb Garst, they spent hours on 99 paintings that will be featured in the exhibit, which is being held at the Jemison Carnegie Heritage Hall Museum in Talladega. The Garsts said all of the paintings were created in the studio behind their house.
Deb Garst said an additional painting she had sold to a local church was loaned to her for use in the gallery.
“We put our lives on hold for over a year now, just to concentrate on creating,” Steve Garst said. “We get up in the morning and go to work in the studio, just like everybody else.”
Heritage Hall curator and director Valerie White said they will be both the first Wetumpka artists and the first married couple to be featured at the museum in years.
“Their styles are very diverse, so we’re going to have the best of both worlds,” White said. “It’s going to be very interesting to see both Steve and Deb’s art, as well as the art they’ve done together.”
Deb Garst said they’re excited to be representing Elmore County. According to Deb Garst, she and her husband were invited by Heritage Hall to do the exhibit after she became involved in a show for the Alabama Watercolor Society.
“I was juried in, and won one of the awards,” Deb Garst said. “When we went to pick up my painting, the gallery director came to us and said, ‘Would you be interested in doing a two-person show? We’ve never had anybody from your area do a show here.’ Of course, we’ve jumped on it.”
The gallery’s opening reception will be held on Oct. 27, and it will be open until Nov. 23. Steve Garst said the exhibit is dedicated to his high school art teacher Bobby Carr. Because of Carr, Steve Garst said he was able to meet his wife.
“We actually met an at an (Elmore County) Art Guild meeting. I was living alone in Montgomery forever, and my friend Bobby Carr said, ‘You’ve got to get out of the house,’” Steve Garst said. “He has touched so many lives. He’s an amazing guy, and we just celebrated his 90th birthday this summer. He’s the guest of honor.”
While they’re typically involved competitions and craft festivals, the Garsts said they’ve discovered hosting an exhibit requires a different level of self-expression.
“When you’re painting for something like this, you go within yourself, and you connect with the thoughts and idea and things that have shaped your life since you were a child, and you bring those to the surface,” Steve Garst said. “You’re not painting to please someone, you’re painting to show everybody out there what you’ve got and what you’re about.”
“You’re painting from the heart,” Deb Garst added.
The Garsts said they have received a lot of support from local art groups, including the art guild, the Dixie Art Colony Foundation and the Kelly Fitzpatrick Memorial Gallery.
“It’s just been a community effort, to tell you the truth,” Steve Garst said.
