Karen Lawrence

"My vein of gold pulls me along the common thread that connects us with our past. In my paintings of interiors I'm intrigued by how people live. I enjoy painting houses with history and rooms filled with beloved treasures. But even those rooms we live our busy lives in today tell rich stories about their residents. I loosely paint a corner of the room, centering on a comfortable old footed bathtub, a lovely dining room with a lit candelabra, a cozy fireplace and overstuffed chair, or maybe a grand piano catching the morning sun. I hope to capture these things in paintings that will be enjoyed by our great grandchildren.

Margo Balcerek

Margo Balcerek, a native of Poland, is a painter passionately interested in garden, landscape, and plants.  Educated in landscape architecture, she finds a perfect outlet for her passions in painting.  Margo possesses an unmistakable style of her own.  Her works are a sublime mixture of reality and abstraction.  Captivating control of light, stunning color schemes and composition are constant elements of her canvases.  She mainly paints in oil on canvas, however sometimes explores different media. 

Michael Knoch

Michael Knoch, graduate of ECU School of Art and Design and a MFA graduate of UNC - Chapel Hill, presently lives and works in Greenville, North Carolina. The rural region provides the current themes for his landscape paintings and drawings. These recent works depict the coastal waterways, sand beaches, fields, and brimming woodlands of eastern North Carolina.

Marilyn Stover

Marilyn's hand built clay forms now include coiled clay baskets. She incorporates natural accents such as cedar or grapevine handles with beads and feathers in her baskets. Combining "products of nature" with clay vessels provides interesting contrasts and satisfies Marilyn's desire to use more than one element in her work. Stover splits her time working in North Carolina and Michigan.

Alan Cayton

The artist states, "I am always searching, always trying to give through my work, wanting to share with others, and finding fascination in the work of other artists. I believe a work of art has beauty and value when the elements of the composition achieve a harmonic unity through the actions of the artist. The struggle of the artist to always go further in this pursuit enriches the work with a spiritual value.

Richard Garrison

A graduate of University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Richard has lived and painted in Raleigh his entire career. He has always been drawn to paint the human form, exploring different techniques, from incorprating Sacred Geometry into his compositions, to capturing people in their everyday activities, to portraiture.

Jeff Kiefer

Currently enrolled in the Sculpture MFA program at East Carolina University. This figurative piece is inspired by the poetry of James Applewhite. Using simplified elongated and abstracted forms to bring an emphasis to the posture and body language to create an emotional connection to the viewer.

Wayne Trapp

For nationally celebrated sculptor and painter Wayne Trapp, beauty and rapture are inherent primal needs which he demonstrates in his art as well as his life as an artist in the mountains of North Carolina. Trapp's oils nearly dance off the canvas in bold, primary colors. Depth and texture are created as the artist applies brushwork in layer upon layer, scraping with a palette knife to reveal underlying hues.

Harry Hearne

In 1985, Harry Hearne started making pots at the Torpedo Factory in Olde Town Alexandria, VA and was so taken with clay that a few years later he moved to Murfreesboro, TN for a two-year studio internship. In 1990, he established Turning Point Clay Studio where he makes his living selling pots and teaching classes. For five summers Harry taught at the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts. He also teaches workshops at Arrowmont School of Crafts, John C. Campbell Folk School, Appalachia Center for Crafts and various other schools and universities. He lives in Brasstown, NC where he enjoys a diverse craft community and a peaceful mountain home.

John Silver

"Painting is not only a profession it is also a way of life"

In my opinion, the only way to become a painter is to paint. Throughout my second decade of painting, I have worked hard and smart at the principles and elements to make my paintings my own personal interpretation of a subject. Each new painting personifies the creation of all my works along with something fresh and lively. I am constantly challenging myself to apply innovative ideas even to familiar works.

Chris Groves

     After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder with a B.F.A. in Environmental Design, Groves spent the next ten years as an art director for two large companies, all the while continuing to study and hone his fine art skills.
     He has studied at the Florence Academy of Art in Italy, the Colorado Academy of Art, the Loveland Art Academy, the Cottonwood Art Academy and the Denver Arts Student League. He also enjoyed a private, two-year mentorship with artist Jay Moore, which he considers a turning point in his artistic career.
     Most recently, Groves was chosen to paint full, life-size portraits of the 10th and 11th circuit Bishops of Colorado.

Kate Worm

The artist states. "Both careful consideration and intuitive response help create the unity in my paintings.  Careful planning comes first, followed by strong, instinctive brush marks made with thick, juicy oil paint or applied veils of runny wash.  My work is often described as luscious, and is always an interpretation of my observation."

Hilda Spain-Owen

Hilda Spain-Owen is a "self-directed" artist. Although, she has had some formal training, she arrived at her style early on working toward what pleased her contemporary taste. When she began painting, she grasped the importance of painting what she loves. Her work has been shown in several galleries in the southeast and her work is in collections across the United States.

Robert Levin

Robert Levin received his M.F.A. Degree from Southern Illinois University and has taught at Penland School of Craft for several years. The artist states, "I was originally attracted to hot glass because of its liquid qualities and sense of immediacy. I have always tried to capture an element of the elegance, fluidity, and whimsy which I feel are inherent properties of glass. I may be looking at a completed piece and see something new in it -- something about myself or my work. This kind of dialogue with the work has become very important to me."

Ranny Chitwood

He has made productive photographic expeditions to fascinating places including Tibet, Nepal, Syria, India, Cambodia, Thailand, Zambia, Botswana, Tanzania, and South Africa. Many images from these trips have been shown publicly through his salon photographic exhibitions.