Dallas Artist Laura Elia Selected for Craighead Green Gallery’s New Texas Talent Exhibition

DALLAS, TX–(EMWNews – July 17, 2008) – Dallas artist and interior designer Laura Elia

announced today that five paintings from her “Awake” series were selected

for the New Texas Talent exhibition taking place at the Craighead Green

Gallery from July 26-August 30. The public is invited to an opening

reception on Saturday, July 26 from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.

Located at 1011 Dragon Street in the Dallas Design District, the Craighead

Green Gallery represents the finest in contemporary art from nationally and

internationally recognized artists. Owners Kenneth Craighead and Steve

Green conceived the statewide, juried New Texas Talent exhibition in 1994

to promote emerging artists. Each year, approximately 600 slides are

submitted for review by a gallery-selected juror who then independently

selects artists to participate. This year’s juror was Julie Kronick,

Corporate Art Curator for Neiman Marcus and a University of Texas alumnus.

For the past 15 years she has nurtured and grown the Neiman Marcus Art

Collection into a selection of 2,500 works of art.

All five of the pieces Elia submitted for the show were accepted by

Craighead Green Gallery. They are entitled, “Right Understanding” (36″ x

48″), “Mindfulness” (36″ x 36″), “Kshanti” (20″ x 20″), “Right View” (36″ x

48″) and “Renunciation” (48″ x 60″). All of the oil and acrylic paintings

in Elia’s “Awake” series incorporate shapes, vivid colors, textures, and

symbolism of Tibetan Buddhism. Each work of art contains one or more

Tibetan prayer flags embedded within layers of paint. Prices range from

$700 for a 20″ x 20″ piece to $4,650 for a 48″ x 60″ painting.

In other news, Dallas yoga studio American Power Yoga

(www.americanpoweryoga.com) recently commissioned a series of eight

paintings from Elia’s newly introduced “Lotus Series,” which will adorn

their studio located at 5400 East Mockingbird Lane.

“I am honored to have my work recognized by the Craighead Green Gallery,

Julie Kronick of the Neiman-Marcus Collection and American Power Yoga,”

says Elia.

“The Lotus Series is based on a theme of transformation and is inspired by

the lotus flower’s pattern of growth, which is born from mud, rises through

murky waters, and presents its pristine beauty in the clear light of day.

Each of us inherently possesses the power to rise from our own self-created

muck and bloom into radiant, enlightened beings,” Elia explains. Like her

“Awake” series, each painting in Elia’s colorful Lotus Series has one or

more Tibetan prayers embedded within.

Elia contributes 10% of proceeds from her paintings to The International

Campaign for Tibet (ICT). Founded in 1988, ICT is a non-profit membership

organization which works to promote human rights, religious tolerance, and

democratic freedoms for the people of Tibet (www.savetibet.org).

For more information on Laura Elia and her art, visit www.awakeart.net or

call 214-906-0230.

To RSVP for the New Texas Talent exhibition opening reception, call the

Craighead Green Gallery at 214-855-0779 or visit www.craigheadgreen.com.