The Creators Gallery is hosting an exhibit of paintings by Salisbury artist Jimmy Lee Alston.
There will be an opening reception 6-8 p.m. Friday at the gallery, located in the old fellowship hall of John Calvin Presbyterian Church, 1620 Brenner Ave.
Alston, originally from Louisburg, is the youngest of 17 children of Bishop P.J. Alston and Evangelist Katie Alston. He says his passion for art began when he was 6 and he was assigned to do a portrait of Ghandi. His teachers saw his potential and put him in charge of bulletin boards.
When he was 15, he was offered a scholarship to study art in Minneapolis with Charles Schulz, the “Peanuts”cartoonist. But since he and his parents did not feel he could make a living through art, he declined the scholarship, a decision he has since regretted.
He later moved to Lexington, where he married wife Lesley in 2003. Upon her retirement from the Davidson County School System, the couple moved to Salisbury in 2005 when Jimmy established his art studio, JAlston’s of Salisbury, located at Rail Walk Studios and Gallery, 409 N. Lee St.
Fascinated with portraiture, Alston says he loves to go “beyond the portrait and paint it as if the picture were alive.”
“It also gives me great joy and a sense of fulfillment when I see the expressions of gratitude on the faces of the people who commissioned the portraits.”
The exhibit will be open Wednesdays, 5:30-7 p.m. during the month of February.
Appointments to see the exhibit may also be made by contacting Leslie Alston, 704-232-1467.