The work of five local artists will be showcased at a reception held at Reflections Gallery on Lee Highway on Friday, Oct. 20, from 5-7 p.m. The free reception is open to the public and light refreshments will be served.

Featured artists will be Paul Brzozowski, Melissa Gates, Robert “Garren” Hall, Cindy McCashin and Elizabeth Worthington. 

Paul Brzozowski is a talented woodworker from Cleveland, Tennessee, whose love for his craft began early in life. His service in the U.S. Navy as an industrial engineer took him across the country and abroad. As he worked at his “day jobs,” he continued to use his woodworking skills to build everything from coffee tables to custom toolboxes, and anything people commissioned him to create. While in Shanghai as a representative of Catnapper of Cleveland, he fell in love with Chinese curved wood designs. Much of his beautiful work today shows his mastery of this skill.

Melissa Gates began painting as a hobby in 2015. As she experimented, she discovered an innate ability to bring her subjects to life on canvas, and is rapidly becoming one of the Tennessee Valley’s most sought-after artists. Originally from Saginaw, Mi., her career path has taken her from coast to coast in the U.S., as well as to Costa Rica and Panama. Her exquisite and award-winning renditions of animals and other wonders of nature capture the close-up beauty of her subjects.

Robert “Garren” Hall has always loved to draw. As a child his favorites were his drawings of comic-book-style art. Today he is known in the Chattanooga/North Georgia area for his evocative images of Southern Americana. His subjects range from depictions of charming small town scenes, Southern landscapes and memorabilia, to his renditions of vintage, often rusted, cars and trucks. He paints with both oils and acrylics and calls his method “reference painting,” often combining elements from several photographs to create one work.  

Cindy McCashin has been painting since 2013, and her work has since been seen in galleries throughout the area. After enjoying a career path with many twists and turns … working in television production and marketing with WRCB-TV, public television fund raising with WTCI (PBS) … she is now a retired realtor. Her self-taught artistic style is constantly evolving and she currently defines it as “Impressionistic Realism.”  She has always been an avid photographer and uses the images she captures as inspiration to create works in acrylics and watercolors.

Elizabeth Worthington received a B.A. in Art from Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and an M.A. and teaching certificate from the University of Virginia. Most recently, she taught art for 15 years in our community at Lookout Mountain School, leading the school’s outstanding arts education program. She is now retired and says she spends most days painting, playing the piano and generally enjoying life. Art patrons have long enjoyed her use of vibrant color in her evocative landscapes.  

Reflections Gallery is a must-see in the East Brainerd area. The gallery’s mission is to bring the works of the best local and regional artists to the art lovers of the Chattanooga area. Reflections Gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.  Art exhibits are constantly changing, so there’s always something new to enjoy. Collectors and art buffs are encouraged to visit often.

Directions to Reflections Gallery are as follows: I-75 to the Shallowford Road exit. Go North to Lee Highway. Left onto Lee Highway. Reflections Gallery is approximately one block on the left. Free parking in front and beside the gallery on Robinson Drive.