Fire Inside Alive by Paul Downs and a mother-and-son exhibit by Carolyn and Mason Bourne will be on display from November 2th to January 3rd, and there will be a public reception for the exhibits on December 5th from 7pm to 9pm.

Fire Inside Alive by Paul Downs

Artist Paul Downs has created a style of art using sticks from the forest that is truly one of a kind. Instead of using charcoal or paint he renders his designs of animals, nature scenes and native Americans using the forest as his medium for his artistic creations. “My palette is the white oak, the wild black cherry, tulip poplar, sassafras, red twig dogwood, and maple sticks.”

For 25 years he has honed his skill down a trail no one else has ventured. In Fire Inside Alive, his artistic expressions range from the power of wing stretched soaring owls to a delicate praying mantis to a portrait of the great chief Red Cloud to three-dimensional Mudwalkers. He brings the viewer into a world of color and design and seemingly gravity defying wall hung sculptures that will delight and amaze while at the same time bringing the peacefulness one would gain from a walk in the woods.

Artist Statement

Downs, a native of Greenbelt, Maryland grew up exploring, playing and falling in love with the woods – the Great North Woods, as he called them – of Greenbelt Maryland. This belt of green came under the threat of development in the late ‘80’s. Downs was a leader in the successful crusade to save these woods – now named the Greenbelt Forest Preserve. His art form developed alongside his conservation career. The woods and his art now enjoy a certain freedom which expresses itself in the very grain of his creations.

Paul has shown his work in galleries, cafes, and festivals throughout Maryland, Washington, DC, and West Virginia. Come see the land speak through the sticks.

Mason Bourne

Mason, of Lanham, is three years old. He is the youngest artist, as well as the first three-dimensional artist, to show his work at the cafe.

Artist Statement

I started drawing when I was 7 months old with a blue crayon, that my Grandpa gave me, and I haven’t stopped! I go to art class in Greenbelt. I have an amazing art center at home. My Grandpa gets me lots of art stuff. I love to make masterpieces and give them to people to make them happy. I like to make masterpieces because I love it! I like finger paints. I like pinecones, glitter glue, wiggly eyes and brushes. I love blue and yellow and orange!

Carolyn Bourne

Carolyn started painting when she was three; her father taught her to watercolor. Her mother, also a painter, did lots of crafts with her. Carolyn got her first degree at James Madison University in Art Education and taught art classes for ten years at the Fairfax County Department of Parks and Recreation. She has a masters degree in reading from Bowie State. Someday she would love to write and illustrate childrens picture books and Emergent Little Readers.

Artist Statement

I love to escape into a canvas with a brush and lots of paint. It
takes me to a place of peace and happiness.For this show I chose the
theme of LOVE. I chose the red roses
because my husband brings them to me from in front of his warehouse.
They have thorns and are not from a florist but they are perfect! The
butterflies are symbolic for freedom and to remember to listen to your
inner voice. Butterflies make my happy. The ones used on my paintings
were a gift to me from my girlfriend. She got them in Ocracoke, NC
at the beach. The mother and child painting is symbolic for my love for
my son, for he is the greatest gift on Earth. My little boy’s 3-D Masterpieces are in this show, too, and it’s so special to me to get to share this with him.