PICKENS — The Pickens County Museum of Art and History will be presenting two new exhibitions beginning Saturday.

The museum will host a reception from 1-4 p.m. Saturday for patrons to meet the artist, Brian MacCormack, presenting his “Participaintings,” work inspired by inspirational moments that are a part of his life. The exhibition will continue through Feb. 11.

Also opening that day will be “Art of Aquarius,” an exhibition of work by Jo Ann Taylor.

MacCormack has been making art, as he says, “since the Nixon administration.”

He started making drawings and paintings as a child and worked as a wood carver in New England. MacCormack has a BFA from the University of Massachusetts in North Dartmouth, and his MFA came from the University of Kansas in Lawrence. A few years ago, MacCormack returned to his roots, making paintings. Most of the pieces are fairly good-sized acrylic on plywood constructions with poplar or walnut framing. When not working on computers or painting, MacCormack and his wife, Carolyn, spend a lot of time with their horses around their home in Pendleton.

When asked about his work, MacCormack said, “With the portmanteau of ‘Participainting,’ I’m describing the creation of work as an integral part of my life instead of just something that I do from time to time. My work comes from moments of inspiration, something interesting or compelling, an idea somehow clicking into place and becoming a piece. From a bay behind the house where I grew up, going to a balloon festival enjoyed with my wife, to an encounter with a health condition, each of the pieces comes from a gut feeling that I should make a piece. Vision, inspiration, revelation — call it what you will, each piece is inspired by an event that is a part of my life.

“I get to use the tools I’ve come to acquire during my life,” MacCormack added. “I’ve been enamored by paintings ever since the high school trip to Boston’s Gardener Museum — before all the good stuff was stolen. I used to draw a lot more than I do now, mainly because of the invention of digital cameras and computers. I see technology as simply additional tools to achieve my ends.”

“Participaintings” is sponsored in part by South State Bank, Pickens Savings and Loan and Robinson Funeral Home, Crematory and Memorial Gardens. The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Located at the corner of U.S. Highway 178 at 307 Johnson St. in Pickens, the museum is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., Thursdays from 9 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Admission is free, but donations are welcomed.

For more information, contact the museum at (864) 898-5963.