Four Regional Artist in The Members Gallery

It is difficult to separate Doug Branton, the teacher, from Doug Branton, the artist craftsman, because he is a dedicated worker in both categories. He is constantly experimenting to produce some of the most unusual and difficult art works. But his working knowledge covers every facet of industrial arts: leather, clay, design, wood, metals, jewelry, and photography. Doug began his career in art while still in high school, attended Appalachian State University and received B.S. and M.S. degrees in Industrial Arts. He continued his education resulting in an Ed.S. Degree from Virginia Tech. Doug has furthered his artistic knowledge by attending many classes at art schools like Arrrowmont School of Arts and Crafts University of Tennessee and Cedar Lake Art Center West Virginia. Doug has been teaching for twenty-nine years and is Associate Professor of Arts and Crafts at Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands. Doug has also performed mission work in Honduras, Costa Rica, Bolivia and the U.S. He is a volunteer for CART (Citizens For The Arts) in Richlands and Habit for Humanity. As if this wasn't enough, he is involved in the historical recreation of historical skills and crafts.

Doug Branton surrounded by some of his pots

John Edwards of Johnson City, TN is presenting his photography. He worked under several teachers at ETSU. During one field trip to Chattanooga's Hunter Museum John discovered the work of photographer Robert Glenn Ketchum. The impressions formed during this visit went on to shape how he went about photographing his fall foliage work.

John's exhibit on Fall Foliage is all from one special area, the Nolichuckey River Gorge, in Unicoi County Tennessee and is based on over 20 years of work. He likes to photograph usually during the third week in October when there is still some green in the trees. Technically John uses a medium format camera, always a tripod, as some of the exposures are often 1/2 second and slower. Previously he used the traditional darkroom methods but now the images are scanned to allow for some special effects. Most photographers, including Ketchum, have motionless trees and leaves. John takes a special approach to this . He says, "along the river, it's hard not to have motion. It seems the wind is always blowing. so, I take this motion, and put it to my advantage. In school I grew to have a great admiration for painters. especially watercolor. So photographically, I use this motion, as brushstrokes, of color giving my work, an ambiguous quality; is it photography, watercolor, or both ? I also like to enhance the colors by using more saturation. To me this gives a wonderful quality of being there. All one would need is a breeze, and the sound of rushing water.

"Bear Tree Lake", a photo by Bunny Medeiros

Deb Stanton at her Drawing Board

For over 15 years she has been doing pet portraits in charcoal for dog lovers all over the western part of the country. One of her dog portraits hangs in the State Capitol in Madison, Wisconsin. Deb loves animals and enjoys capturing their personalities in her paintings and drawings. To keep the focus on the animal in a portrait setting, backgrounds are generally left out of her drawings and paintings. Having owned horses for most of her life she also enjoys painting them. Deb has found that watercolor is an excellent medium for capturing their true beauty and grace. She says, "In my painting/drawing creations, I do for the true love I have for horses and all animals"!