The Blues (& Other Colors): Ernie Benton and Sontonya Necheal

The Blues (& Other Colors) features local artists Ernie Benton and Sontonya Necheal whose paintings and mixed media works explore music, movement and color.

Inspired by his passion for music, Ernie Benton’s paintings depict the sounds, flavor and vibrations of life. A Chicago native now residing in North Texas, Benton is a largely self-taught artist whose work revolves around the interplay of shape and color and the interaction between the abstract and the figure, geometry and form.

Sontonya Necheal, also from the DFW area, is an author, public speaker and artist who experiments with various materials, creating colorful, abstract works on canvas. Working with acrylic paints, pastels, ink, charcoal, spray paint, cheesecloth, handmade paper and other mediums, Necheal creates powerful compositions, full of movement and rich with layered textures and raw emotion.

On exhibit in the Irving Arts Center’s Carpenter Lobby Gallery, November 20, 2021 – February 26, 2022.