By David Rogers. BLOWING ROCK, N.C. — One of artist Jack Hamrick’s most interesting pieces being exhibited at Edgewood Cottage this week resulted from a flashback to “…when Asheville was a hippie throwback tie-dye town, kind of a fun mountain town. I had picked up my son and daughter-in-law at the airport and was stuck in traffic. I reflected on what it used to be and thought, ‘This town has been wrecked (with all of the development).
“So I painted that piece and it is called, ‘Paved Paradise.’ I put the (city) skyline in the foreground (with the mountains in the background), thinking that could be what Asheville looks like in 50 years,” added Hamrick. “But, you know, really that could be true of any of our quaint mountain towns today. They are not a secret anymore, but I hope we can manage their growth in a way that promotes and protects their integrity.”
Hamrick was serving as one of the week’s featured artists in the Blowing Rock Historical Society’s “Artists in Residence” series for at least the third time. He noted that most of the pieces he brought for the week had not been exhibited in his previous years at Edgewood. He has proven to be a popular artist in the series, perhaps partly explained by his residence on the outskirts of Blowing Rock.
Editor’s Note: We’ve covered Hamrick previously, including two extensive articles on his background.
- In 2023, we penned one for The Blowing Rocket (https://www.wataugademocrat.com/blowingrocket/news/jack-hamrick-creating-energy-with-complementary-colors/article_9977b11a-e694-11ec-92ea-734c3fa8afc2.html).
- In 2025, we did a follow-up story in Blowing Rock News: (/from-an-adventurous-even-chaotic-childhood-comes-vivid-colors-with-purpose/).
We encourage you to read both to get a sense for the life experiences behind the artist’s creative genius.
Hamrick shared that he has become even more expressive with the use of color in his art.
“My work is still hard to define. It is abstract realism, abstract impressionism. Most of my work is a combination of acrylics and oils. I have a technique where I do the entire composition in acrylic and then when it dries, I paint it again, the whole thing, in oils. So my paintings are an overlay of oil over acrylic. That actually allows me a lot more flexibility in what I keep in the original composition, what I cover up, or what I embellish. It is exciting because I like to innovate with every single painting. I don’t do anything twice. I like to experiment,” said Hamrick.
Hamrick said he is unaware of any other artists who do their art the same way, but that he was influenced by other lifelong artists who had evolved, such as Jonas Gerard (1941-2020).
“Gerard, who was based in Asheville, successfully navigated through all of the art mov
ements of the 20th century,” said Hamrick. “It wasn’t until he was in his 70s that he would be purely expressive and spontaneous, where he would start, literally, with just a dash of bold color and let the composition compose itself. He was wildly successful, with three galleries fully staffed. People loved his work.
“He sort of mentored me,”added Hamrick, “and I became less inhibited because of him and other artists like him. Gerhard Richter is a German artist, still living and I consider him a genius with color and color blending. As a result of those influences and my own growth, I like to create meaningful art that has a certain sensibility, that is not purely abstract. But I want it to generate a visceral, visual kind of emotive reaction in the viewer.”
The Artists in Residence series features a different combination of artists from late May to early September, with a new combination of two and sometimes three artists each week.
