Look left, look right: You’ll see work by Hot Springs artist Carole Katchen on both sides of Main Street at tonight’s Argenta ArtWalk event. Both the Laman Library and Argenta Gallery are featuring retrospective exhibitions of the artist’s paintings, pastels, woodblock cuts and etchings.

At Argenta Gallery, 413 Main St., “Carole Katchen’s Art, Then and Now” will hang through April 10. At Laman, 420 Main St., “Carole Katchen: 40 Years of Art” is up through April 13. Argenta Gallery will be open until 8 p.m. tonight, Laman until 7:30 p.m.

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Katchen is known for her whimsical paintings of society at play. From a news release:

“As I near 70, it’s fun to look back and see how my art developed through the years. … This exhibit goes from my early woodblock prints of dancers and musicians to Nigerian etchings, mid-career bar scenes and recent chefs. Some pieces in the show had not been exhibited for more than 30 years.

“The main focus of my art has always been people. I love to watch them and try to capture how they interact with each other. Being an artist has allowed me to paint people all over the world, from South America to Africa. It has been fascinating to see their differences and their similarities.” 

Katchen, who began her career as an illustrator for Scholastic, has work in the collections of the Heifer Foundation, Bill and Hilary Clinton, the Rockefeller Cancer Institute and the Baptist Health Center. She has also been a columnist for International Artist Magazine and Pastel Journal. Her awards include the Golden Mentor Award from the International Association of Pastel Societies, Outstanding Working Woman from the U.S. Department of Labor and Master Pastelist from the Pastel Society of America.

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Argenta Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Laman’s Argenta branch is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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