To celebrate Eye Candy Gallery's first anniversary and Southern Pines' last First Friday of the year, the gallery is featuring local artist Jude Winkley, Friday, Oct. 7, from 6 to 9 p.m.

The exhibit will hang through Saturday, Oct. 15. The exhibit features works largely created over the past two years under the mentorship of gallery owner-artist-photographer Frank Pierce.

Winkley, born in upstate New York and educated at Kalamazoo College, Mich., moved to the Sandhills upon her retirement from IBM in 2004. In addition to coaching by Pierce, she has also received art training at the Artists League of the Sandhills.

Her enthusiasm for painting was launched by an acrylic class taught by well-known local artist Harry Neely. Within a year, her husband, Rich, added a studio to their new home in Pinehurst to get the painting equipment out of the kitchen.

"While I did not paint before coming to the Sandhills, I have always been exposed to fine art both in museums around the world and at home," Winkley says. "My grandmother was an artist and surgical illustrator at Johns Hopkins and the Mayo Clinic. Her uncle was noted Cincinnati artist L.H. Meakin. I grew up with their paintings in our home."

Winkley paints a variety of subjects, primarily in oil. The Winkleys' travels provide a wealth of topics to paint. In 2010, they traveled to Northern Ireland with the Sister Cities delegation and Pierce's painting class.

"It was a subject-rich environment," she says. "I've done several paintings from that trip."

Some of the Northern Ireland paintings will be on display during the exhibit.

"Painting brings me great joy," Winkley says. "I can lose myself in the process for hours at a time."

Eye Candy Gallery & Wine Bar is located at 275 N.E. Broad St., Southern Pines. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call (910) 246-2266 or visit eye-candy-gallery.com for more information.