Exhibit by Carthage, Ill., artist to be on display during September at Alliance Art Gallery

HANNIBAL, Mo. — Having spent a lifetime of making art, Terry Newell of Carthage, Ill., is bringing his work to Alliance Art Gallery for September.

Newell recently has been concentrating on western-themed acrylic paintings inspired by a childhood that included playing cowboys and Indians with his brother. He has spent time with Native Americans and studied their cultures and paints to show the dignity of these peoples. That influence is noted in the jewelry designed by Newell.

As a young artist, he often tried to please his artistic father with his drawings, especially of his favorite subjects of cars, airplanes and horses, the latter because he loved them and the family actually broke horses, something he helped with.

This fascination and knowledge is something that continues to inspire him today.

In a press release, Newell said, “I have the artist disease. I am required to create. I lose all sense of time when I am painting, 3 a.m., 4 a.m., makes no difference. There is wonder and power in the creation of something that wasn’t there before and will exist for a time unknown. Humans have been producing art since petrographs and cave paintings. We artists of today have to carry on because we must.”

During September, Newell will be exhibiting paintings, clothing that has been printed with designs from his paintings and jewelry.

September also will continue the collaborative works of Connie Stephens and Dennis Babbitt. Both have enjoyed the influence each artist’s work has had on the other.

Stephens is one of two photographers at the gallery. She is a documentary artist and loves to travel and find places and subjects she sees and reacts to. She never feels the photograph lives up to the actual scene, then spends time using techniques to enhance the photo and recreate the reaction she felt in that space. She shoots her photos in Raw — a type of digital file format that is uncompressed and unprocessed. These large, high-quality images allow her to alter the image in many ways.

These artists’ works will be on display in September. An opening reception will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14. As with each month’s Second Saturday Gallery Night, there will be artists’ talks at 6 p.m. and a free drawing for a piece of art at 6:30 p.m.