Presenting the work of two of Alleghany Highlands’ favorite artists- Jo Ann Taylor and Loretta Benham seems like an ideal way to celebrate Alleghany County’s artistic heritage. The Galleries are full of their work: watercolors, batiks, oils, acrylics, drawings, and encaustics. Admissions is free and it’s a very cool pairing- come join us as we celebrate the Alleghany County bicentennial. The two shows will run through October 7, 2022.

When Loretta Redman Benham died in 2017, the Alleghany Highlands lost one of its most proficient and prolific artists. The Potts Creek native grew up drawing and painting. Long before the internet and virtual learning, she studied commercial art by way of correspondence lessons with the Famous Artists School or Westport Connecticut, widely advertised in periodicals and on matchbook covers of the era. “LEARN TO DRAW!” the ads proclaimed, and that is just what Loretta did. She said, “Mother always encouraged me and so did my Aunt Norine and Uncle Homer Humphries, both of whom were interested in art. Still, I was uncertain if pursuing art was the right thing to do. Years later, when my Aunt Norine passed away, Uncle Homer saw that I got her supplies- paper, brushes acrylics and watercolors. I was hesitant to take it all, but Uncle Homer told me that if I didn’t use the supplies, he’d just throw them out. ‘There’s no reason for you not to paint now!’ he exclaimed.”

Later Loretta studied with local artists: Elizabeth Smith of Clifton Forge and, for eighteen years, with Jeanne Shepherd’s “Firehouse School” that met locally. Benham used to laugh that the Millboro artist/teacher always hounded her to paint bigger. She’d protest saying that she did not want to work larger, but eventually Shepherd prevailed. “She was so right!” admitted Benham. Loretta also traveled to workshops and classes with nationally-known artists: Anne Hale and Vera Dickerson in Roanoke, Fred Graff in Lewisburg WV; Carl Dalio, Gerald Brommer and Carol Barnes at Springmaid Beach SC; and Mel Stabin in Chads Ford, PA. From each workshop Benham expanded her skills in drawing and composition, color, means of expression, along with new techniques. She used the knowledge to reflect her own vision and depict things that energized her. She loved many different media, and excelled at them all: pencil, colored pencil, ink, oil, acrylic, watercolor and collage, working either abstractly or representationally as she needed. Any topic that caught her interest was fair game: rifle parts for a historic restoration at Fort Bragg, KY; reflections of the colorful characters small town characters, cowboy scenes, chickens, lots of flowers and wild animals. All of these and more came under the attention of her careful eye and clever brush.

Benham, who often won awards for her work signed her pieces “LR” Benham feeling that judges were often biased when reviewing women’s work. Her acrylic “The Bear” placed in the top 200 of 2500 entries in a National Arts for the Parks Competition, held annually in Jackson Hole, WY. She was a frequent award winner in several categories at the Fall Festival shows here at the AHACC. Those who had reason to visit the offices of the late Mike Wolfe, former Clerk of Court at the Covington Courthouse were treated to an ever-changing exhibit of her work there as well. Wolfe was her nephew and one of her biggest fans. Viewers are attracted to her careful attention to detail and the obvious delight she had at using different technique’s to create the desired effect; her work has been widely collected.

“I may be drawn by the oddities of ordinary farm life, the isolation and identity of wildlife, the serenity of the landscape or the grace of architecture. She liked a portrait that accurately depicted the subject’s lifestyle and the wild beauty of a still life. “For me all of these have a strong appeal and say “PAINT (or DRAW) Me! My aim is to evoke the same emotion in the painting and help the viewer understand why I chose that subject, she often said. It just depends on what the mood is and the image I want to project. Whatever it takes to get the job done, said Benham.” Regardless of the media she used or techniques she combined, that is just what she did. Loretta Benham never stopped creating and studying, whether it was the works of old masters or some new process. AHACC is grateful to husband Ken and daughter Jeanne for sharing some of their treasures as well as a number of pieces that have not been shown before. It seems a fitting way to celebrate Alleghany County’s Bicentennial.

Virginia native, Jo Ann Taylor grew up and lived in Covington for many years. “I’ve always wanted to draw and paint!” she remarked in a recent conversation. “My first recollection is a picture I did of Rumpelstiltskin in 2nd grade. My art teacher in high school was Elizabeth Smith from Clifton Forge. After I married Bill Taylor, my next instructor was ‘none other than the awesome Bari Ballou at what was then Dabney S. Lancaster Community College (now Mountain Gateway). Taylor went on to Mary Washington College where she studied printmaking, drawing and design. Covington residents of a certain age will remember Jo Ann Taylor’s illustrations for the 1951 & ‘52 CHS Cougar yearbooks. Her portrait of Coach Albert still hangs in the Covington High School office.

Taylor continued to take classes as often as possible, even when she began a family. “My husband Bill always baby sat and when I started traveling to workshops, he took vacation to look after kids. He always supported me!” There have been lots of classes throughout her artistic career: Rangemark Master Classes at Winter Harbor, Maine, the Seattle School of Realism in Seattle, Washington, and others with some of the best-known watercolor instructors in the country: Chen Chi, Charles Reid, Stephen Quiller, Christopher Schink, Charles Reid, and a host of others. Her work has been included in corporate and private collections throughout Asia, Canada, the United States and Europe; her exhibition list is long and full of awards.

“Plein Air Painting has always been one of my joys” says Taylor. Certainly, she had a lot to absorb and enjoy in the Highlands, as several pieces indicate. When, in 1974 she and her husband moved to South Carolina, Jo Ann Taylor kept right on responding to her surroundings.

One of the great delights in this exhibit is how skillfully Taylor moves from one landscape to another, always aware of the wind and weather, light and flowers that pull us into a particular location. Winter landscapes seem cozy and familiar, whether the snow has fallen in the Highlands or outside her studio window in SC. The splash and beauty of flowers are everywhere.

Small sketches of what might have been family vacations are a delightful way for visitors to connect. Wave, water, moon, and flowers are all a part of her world that she shares. Her titles not only reflect the image, but some also offer little bits of sage advice. “Never Too Old” is wonderfully ambiguous- does she mean the trees, the viewer–herself? And don’t miss the curious little figure in “Stop and Smell the Roses!”

Taylor is not content to just record what she sees- she shares imaginative flights with us as well. Several works full of the pleasure of color, the movement of paint on a surface and the pure adventure in the act of painting. She continues to live and paint, to explore and experiment with several media.

“Every day I paint in the studio ‘with my mind’s eye.’ These studio paintings are always more expressive because am not confronted with a lot of information and I don’t feel the need to show realistic aspects of the subject. In viewing my “studio paintings” and my “on location paintings” you would think two different artists are involved-and in a way that is absolutely true! Painting has kept me sane since Bill died and during the Pandemic. I’m still living alone in the country but I’m very near my daughter Jenny. I’ll not live long enough to paint all the ideas I have in my mind!”

The Alleghany Highlands Arts and Crafts Center is supported by its members, volunteers, contributors, the Town of Clifton Forge, the City of Covington, the County of Alleghany, The Alleghany Foundation, The Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.

The Virginian Review has been serving Covington, Clifton Forge, Alleghany County and Bath County since 1914.

The Virginian Review has been serving Covington, Clifton Forge, Alleghany County and Bath County since 1914.

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