FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Finn & Thatcher Children's Emporium is pleased to announce its inaugural art exhibition, featuring artist Sheryl Humphrey. "'Drawling, Stretching, and Fainting in Coils': Art Inspired by the Alice Books of Lewis Carroll" showcases Humphrey's pencil drawings and oil paintings. Humphrey takes her title from the Mock Turtle's "art lessons," a classic example of Carroll's inventive wordplay.

Show dates are March 3 through April 30, 2006. An opening reception will be held on Friday, March 3 from 4-9 pm.

Finn & Thatcher is located at 4405 Ivy Commons in Ivy, Virginia. Hours are Monday-Friday 10-6; Saturdays 10-5. Traveling from Charlottesville, take 250 West toward Crozet.

Sheryl Humphrey is known as a visionary painter with a style akin to Magic Realism. Her art celebrates the beauty of light and color, but a surreal edginess keeps the work from slipping into sentimentality. Her themes of fantasy and spirituality often include images of children. "Alice in Wonderland" was a major influence on her personal and artistic development. "Alice is a great girl heroine," notes Humphrey. "She's curious, brave, intelligent, and resourceful."

The Alice books are masterpieces created by Carroll and the illustrator John Tenniel, and Humphrey's new illustrations are intended not to supplant them, but to pay homage. "The fact that these books are still inspiring new interpretations is testament to their greatness," Humphrey says.

Humphrey's works include the familiar Carrollian characters of Humpty-Dumpty, the Cheshire Cat, and the Red and White Queens. But she also interprets some lesser-known passages of the Alice books, offering a new twist on the old themes. Humphrey states, "I hope these paintings and drawings serve to share my enthusiasm for the Alice books, and perhaps create new enthusiasts both young and old."

For more information, please contact Lindsay Howerton at 434-293-3004. See more of the artist's work at www.SherylHumphrey.com.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Sheryl Humphrey is a painter living and working in Staten Island, New York. She attended Yale University, received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at Brooklyn College in 1998. Her work has been exhibited extensively in New York and across the country. Paintings by Ms. Humphrey are included in many public, private, and corporate collections, including Prudential Insurance, the El Paso Museum of Art, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, and the Williamsburg Art & Historical Center in Brooklyn.

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