Art teacher Clay Sayre has a knack for remembering faces. Well, on canvas that is.

"I have always been fascinated by faces," said Sayre, who teaches art education at Gainesville High School.

His current body of work, "Character Faces," will be on display at Inman Perk on the downtown square for the month of October.

Sayre's figures are best described as capturing a singular moment of unencumbered emotion. But depicting such raw feelings isn't easy.

Much of his works center around "how to take a face and challenge it, manipulate it ... or just allow it to tell it's story with all the faults, wrinkles, and vestiges of experience it has collected along the way."

Sayre says every face does indeed tell a story.

"A great deal of the things I do deal with duality, be it opposites - good and evil, beauty and ugliness - juxtaposition, or contrast.

I enjoy using different media, be it charcoal, acrylic, oils or graphite depending on the needs of the concept. Plus, I guess I get bored if I remain in one place too long."

Sayre has also worked as a special effects makeup artist for stage, TV and film, but decided teaching was his "true calling."

"As a longtime classic horror buff, I do love to produce pieces based on classic film imagery as a starting point, but I relish doing ordinary people as well as subject matter," said Sayre.

I am an artist and a teacher and have no real way of separating the two. I have always been drawn (no pun intended) to creative expression, and being able to teach is a gift," said Sayre.

Sayre's paintings are not only bold in content, they're rich in color and textures.

"I was lucky to have a guiding spirit (my grandfather) to push me into using and exploring my talent; therefore, I feel compelled to do the same."

For more information, visit www.claysayre.com.