About the Artist: Earl Davis

Our Watauga Artists

Kevin and Sarah Deshields

Kevin and Sarah DeShields are a husband and wife creative team that work together on music and visual art. While their projects aren't always done together, they often find themselves weaving their gifts in and out of one another's work. Over the course of 16 years Sarah and Kevin have played in bands, written music for short film, and created lyric videos combining music, photography and motion graphic design.

Michael and Renee Askew

Michael and Renee Askew are a husband and wife Artist team living in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. Michael and Renee met in 1987 at Arrowmont School of Art in Gatlinburg TN, where Michael focused on sculpture and pottery and Renee studied painting and fiber arts. After their summer at Arrowmont, Michael went on to graduate from Auburn University with a BFA in Sculpture. He has spent time teaching Art in Community Colleges and in private art studios. Michael’s artwork has been exhibited and sold throughout the Southeast and Southwest U.S. He has won awards for his sculptures and been in many juried Shows and Galleries. Renee’ graduated from Prescott College with a BA in Painting and a minor in Photography. Renee has taught Art and Creative Release in the US and in Eastern and Western Europe. Renee’s Artwork can be seen in Africa, Asia, Europe, and in private collections in the U.S. The Askews have three grown children, two sons-in-law, and have lived in interesting places like Cambodia as well as various locations in the U.S. In addition to creating Artwork together, Michael and Renee have renovated four houses. They also enjoy reading, writing, playing music, hiking, camping and spending time with family.

Brad Gates

Brad Gates is a self-taught impressionist artist who is a full-time Blowing Rock, North Carolina resident. Although not formally trained, Brad has been creating art throughout his life and has been inspired by studying art through his travels. Visits to the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Neue Pinakothek in Munich, and the Guggenheim in New York, along with hundreds of other museums and galleries, have shaped the divisionistic stylings of the artist. Brad studied business at the University of Texas. In addition to his professional art endeavors, Brad also owns a short-term rental business with his wife, Alison.

Anne Nemcosky

I gather inspiration from my home in the North Carolina mountains and from my travels to the coast. I paint nearly every day. I have been painting forever. The more I paint the closer I get to the truth of the magic of color and light that I see in our world. I grew up in Ohio and attended the University of Cincinnati, obtaining a BFA in painting. I then earned a MFA degree in painting at North Carolina's East Carolina University. This was where I met and married my husband, artist Gary Nemcosky. After a few years back in Cincinnati we landed in the beautiful North Carolina mountains. I was always painting, and I also worked in advertising and free-lance graphic design. I have taught various art classes as a part-time instructor at the local community college and at Appalachian State University. My art work can be found in private collections across the US, in the United Kingdom, Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, and Australia. Over the years I have adapted my studio practice to my life's circumstances, however landscape and a feeling of place have been a constant influence in my art. Living in the dramatically beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains as well as annual visits to the Carolina Coast are experiences that have cemented my love of landscape and the inward connections we have for place. I like to explore various media and styles yet abstraction is my favorite form of expression. My abstract paintings are an intuitive response to a sense of place through the visual language of color, form, and movement.

Marion Cloaninger

Marion Cloaninger is best known for her colorful acrylic mixed media paintings. Her process involves creating layers, applied in non-traditional ways, using Acrylic Paint, drawing media, hand painted papers, monoprints and found collage elements. Her subjects range from vivid abstracts or semi-abstracts of landscapes, flowers or figures. Her figurative works are distinct and sometimes show the face without features. Her approach is to explore, take risks and be open to the unexpected.

Patrick Richardson

My work is a rendition of musical color focusing on the sensual aspects of organic materials. The dynamic colors come from my visions that occur when listening to music while creating (synesthesia). The most common comment on my work is I “Love the Colors!” My primary influences are O'Keefe, Van Gogh, and Burchfield. I only paint with music on, usually loud and extremely diverse. I also enjoy listening to the sounds in nature. I prefer to work with Oils with occasional use of acrylics, mixed media, pen & ink, and pencil. In general, I prefer working with large canvases and hope to migrate to 6’ and larger pieces; my studio ceiling height limits my piece dimensions. I am only affiliated with the King Street Art Collective so far.