Arts & Letters, 214 S. Campbell, invites you to enjoy the opening reception for Ellen Neville: Recent Work during the Nov. 1 First Friday Art Walk. We are delighted to be showcasing this talented, young artist! Also, enjoy The Violet Lockets, performing live during the reception. "These works are an exploration of pattern and design in weaving and embroidery. I used the traditional Japanese embroidery technique Sashiko as my medium for drawing and stitching the patterns because it is noted for its polished simplicity and thoughtful design. Weaving is an incredibly complicated and time consuming art that requires much planning, sketching, drafting, and math. Simplifying the design of these weavings and expressing them with this technique allowed me to see the composition in its most sincere form. The patterns in these weavings are made from mixing the order of pedaling on the loom, which is what I am referencing in the use of handkerchiefs as my canvas." - Ellen Neville. Ellen is a Springfield native and 2013 Drury University graduate who has also studied at the Kansas City Art Institute  and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. (417) 830-8186 www.artsandlettersspringfield.com  

OTC Fine Art Gallery at The Gillioz, 325 Park Central East, Third Floor, presents Elizabeth Moreland's Notes and Songs: One Artist's Portrait of the Music World. Join OTC Fine Art Gallery Nov. 1 for the opening reception. Elizabeth will have approximately20canvases of all sizes from the very small to the very large. Painted in oil, they tell the story of music as seen through the eyes of an artist. They are as varied as the musicians she knows. They cover the realms of the imaginative, to the natural, to the romantic. Elizabeth, who is from St. Louis, has been painting for over 20 years. Her work is deeply influenced by her early childhood exposure to nature. Spending time in the woods and fields near her rural home and in the sunshine, often barefoot, helped her forge a deep connection to the natural world. For a time, she majored in math at WashingtonUniversity in St. Louis, but in 2011 she made a decision of the heart, and decided to commit herself to creating art full-time. Since then, she has obsessively pursued her dream of making visions come alive on canvas. Elizabeth met singer-songwriter Kevin Renick in October 2010. Some months afterward, they fell in love and decided to make a life together, dramatically changing Elizabeth's direction and aesthetic. For an entire year, they "lived on the road" traveling from city to city, performing from one stage to the next. Kevin had his guitar, Elizabeth her paintbrush. Elizabeth was thrown into the communal world of musicians, with their gigs, their instruments, and their passionate, diverse songs and styles. This exhibition will feature paintings of some of her musician friends, as well as a few more famous figures from the world of music at large. The influence of the natural world on the artist can be seen in several of her larger pieces. (417) 447-8873 Open 9 a.m.-6 p.m. M-Th; 9 a.m.-3 p.m. F; and 9 a.m.-10 p.m. on First Fridays  

Park Central Branch Library, 128 Park Central Square, invites art lovers to start their First Friday Art Walk with a. 6 p.m. Art Talk: Shon Cele Rainey presents The Woman in the Mirror: The Mirror in Contemporary Photography. At 7 p.m., enjoy Music by Bill & Kate Isles. On display throughout the evening is Mixed Media Art by Debbie Madden (417) 831-1342 www.facebook.com/parkcentrallibrary Open 8:30 a.m.-9 p.m. M-Th; 8:30 a.m.-10 p.m. F-Sat