Artist statement: Having begun painting at the mid-century point in my life, I have increasingly found myself drawn to images which so fascinated me as a child. I can recall making houses, rooms and furniture from cardboard and other materials, cutting out pictures from magazines and rejoicing when I found something that was “just the right size” for my creations. As I develop as an artist, I attempt to present a view of the world that is uniquely mine, seeking out those images that continue to captivate me and connect me to the world in which I live.

Robert Broderson was born in West Haven, Ct. on July 6, 1920, and he died in Independence, Va. on March 12, 1992. He was a painter for forty-five years, from the time he entered Duke University as an older student after the war, to his last years in his studio in Independence overlooking the New River.

Broderson served in the Air Force from 1942 to 1945, travelling to Africa, Sicily, England, and France. In 1947 he enrolled as a twenty-seven-year-old freshman at Duke University in Durham, N.C. A chance encounter with a Yale professor who was a fare in the cab he was driving to support his family after the war led him to explore the possibility of returning to school on the G.I. Bill. In his sophomore year at Duke, he began the work in painting that would be his life.

After he graduated from Duke in 1950, Broderson received a M.F.A. from State University of Iowa. Broderson then returned to Duke where he taught classes in drawing and painting for twelve years. He was an Associate Professor of Art when he left Duke after receiving a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1964. Broderson also taught at North Carolina State in Raleigh in 1967-68 and at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine during the summer of 1967. After the sixties, Broderson gave up teaching and devoted all his life to painting.
Highlights of Broderson’s career include the Guggenheim and Ford Foundation Grants, the inclusion of his work in shows at the Whitney, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Metropolitan, and his induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In the sixties in New York, he was represented by the Catherine Viviano Gallery, which also represented the German Expressionist, Max Beckmann, and some of the American Abstract Expressionists.

As a painter Broderson worker mainly with oils, but he began experiments with acrylics in his later years. He always continued sketching and drawing the life studies, which he had begun when he studied and painted in Mexico and Paris on research grants in his student years. His work in pencil, pastel, and pen and ink continued through the years with his painting. The book of his work, Robert Broderson: 32 Drawings, is actually a masterful blend of his drawing and painting techniques.

Broderson’s work began in black and white. The black was oil, India ink, pastel, or pen; the white was painted, left bare, or scratched off with a pen-knife. Broderson studied shades of black and white, brown, and gray for decades, off and on through experiments with color. In his later years, he moved into strikingly discordant colors of oil pastel. In between is a vast body of work, which testifies to the fertility of his creative imagination.

Broderson’s favorite painter was Goya, and his homage is readily apparent in the dark paintings and disturbing themes, which are obvious throughout his career. He also loved Cezanne, for the beauty of his work and his seminal role as precursor of modernity. He loved Picasso for his playfulness, and because he seemed to encompass all of modern art within his work.

Broderson was a figurative painter, concerned with human and other figures. He sometimes invented new creatures in his work; often, a menagerie of people and animals seem to pose the perennial questions: where do we come from, where do we go. He studied all the varieties of human experience and expression. The people in his paintings, as he said, were not real people. He almost never knew what he would paint ahead of time. There are a few commemorations of public events in his painting, but they are rare. More often, his work developed expressionistically, in the process of painting. He worked on many canvases at once and never hesitated to rework what seemed finished. He hated dating his work, and he painted too many to worry much about titles. He often covered a whole wall with sheets randomly cut from a roll, and worked on each and all at once. He peopled whole worlds. He painted nearly every day for forty-five years.

Robert Brown was born in Anderson, South Carolina in 1954. An exceptional painter, he brings out the rich natural colors that are exposed in the true light of the day. Painting on location allows Robert to capture the true essence of his subject matter whether in the mountains of North Carolina on in the piedmont where he lives. Robert received his Bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University and a Master's degree from Wake Forest University. He has also studied privately in Charlotte & Asheville North Carolina and in Philadelphia PA. Robert also attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts from 2002-2004.

Artist Statement: "My work is primarily reflective of the Pennsylvania landscape tradition but, I'm currently shifting towards more urban and architectural motifs. I'm especially interested in applying plein air landscape experience and methods to the painting of architectural exteriors and interiors."

Lita Gatlin, a native of Georgia, now living in Charlotte, North Carolina, began drawing in pencil and ink at an early age and transitioned into the oil medium after college.   In 2002, the excitement of painting took over as she pursued art as a full-time career.   “The beauty and colors of the natural world around us provide the most inspiration for my painting,” says Lita.   “I am always amazed at the colors in nature and how they constantly change with daylight and atmosphere.”   She strives to show the effect of these changes on the mood and temperature of each painting.   While, Lita primarily paints landscapes of the Southeast and Europe, she also enjoys figurative work.   “Whether it's people or animals, I love to capture life being lived.”   She strives to accurately reflect the emotions and actions of the figure and bring the viewer into the setting.   Lita is represented by several galleries in the Southeast.

Rebecca N King is an oil painter native to Black Mountain, NC. Since childhood, King drew and painted, but it wasn't until 1999 when she met Ben Long, North Carolina fresco and oil painter that she began her formal training. In the summer of 1999 she went to the south of France with Long and his family to paint the landscape. She returned to North Carolina in 2000 and had her first solo exhibition, "A summer in Southern France" at Montreat College's Hamilton Gallery. Since then King returned to France and Italy to paint landscapes and visit the museums and churches of the Renaissance almost every year. She has had other solo and group exhibitions in Black Mountain and Asheville, NC. King continued to study with Long until 2004, and they maintain a mentoring relationship today. In addition to "en plein air" landscape painting in Western North Carolina and the South of France, King also paints figurative work, still-life, and portraits in her studio. King resides in Black Mountain, NC with her husband Paul

His styles have graduated from various contrasting stages in life, his forms have taken new branching dimensions, the colours of his pallet have interchanged to express a variety of feelings and ideas, and the collection of his work has traced his footsteps more effectively than any road-map. The gradation of George Kosinski's paintings stems from the movement of the artist himself. Born in Scotland, raised in England, yet retaining his Polish background, George thenceforth has moved as the brush does, with long and short strokes of varying colours of light and dark shades.

Having parted with his architectural profession in the English Lake District, George and his family moved to Israel in 1991, the beginning of a journey that would determine the course of George's narrative style. While living in Jerusalem, George focused the point of his brush in the regions between Northern Syria and Southern Egypt. He explored the culture and dry ambience of beautiful and ancient cities such as Jerusalem, Damascus, and Cairo, as well as the rich areas of Wadi Rum and the Sinai deserts.

Having built a solid collection of watercolor paintings, held in collections in many countries in the world, George published a book of two hundred paintings, in chronological order, illustrating the influence of nine years in the Middle East on his perspective and brush swipe. In 2000, George commenced on a journey to America, beginning in New Mexico and exploring the beauty of its skies and the echoing desert of Santa Fe. After eighteen months in the southwest, George continued life's journey to the green, lush forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, in which he explores the green pigment with great enthusiasm. Although his styles are yet recognizable, and the technical aspects of his work distinct, his art has taken a noticeable turning in the Eastern States, created with both oils and watercolours and aimed towards capturing the contrasting atmosphere.

The journey continues ......

Pat turned to painting during a difficult period in her life, but is thankful for those hard times that gave birth to this joyful expression that has become her life. Whether it’s landscape or cityscape, figure or animal – her excitement for the process emerges in expressionistic color with energetic paint application, brush stroke and texture. Although oils offer the most versatility, some images just cry out for pastel and others call for the more contemporary edge she loves using thick watercolor.

A NC native, Pat enjoys being able to live and paint in the mountains – outside in the diverse, lush landscape as well as in her studio when the wind and snow blows. She and husband, Ed, moved to Boone over 30 years ago and still enjoy having children and grandchildren close by.

Wes has been drawing and painting throughout his life and has focused on watercolor as a medium since the early eighties. Though he considers himself a landscape painter, Wes is often willing to tackle a number of diverse and challenging subjects based on his most recent travels and experiences. Experiments with human and architectural forms, and new painting tools and mediums often tend to find a way into his work. Being a lifelong outdoor enthusiast has greatly contributed to the direction of his art as images collected over years of backpacking, canoeing and fishing excursions often form the base from which new paintings evolve. “I find comfort in knowing that remote wilderness areas still exist, and often try and draw from my personal experience in visiting these areas as a new painting forms.”

Wes has studied with and cites inspiration from fellow artists Joe Miller, William B. Lawrence and Noyes Long. He holds a B. S. Degree in Zoology from North Carolina State University and an M. A. in Counseling from Appalachian State University. He has also served as a juror and guest lecturer for several North Carolina Watermedia Societies and Artist’s Guilds. Wes is a regular workshop instructor for Cheap Joe’s Art Supplies in Boone.