BIOGRAPHY
I began painting while attending W&J College in southwestern PA, studying under Paul Edwards, Chairman of the Art Department, author, painter, Who's Who in American Art, and an old friend. I received a BA in Art from W&J in 1974 and that fall attended the MD. Institute College of Art in Baltimore. The following spring I began a two year period of classical painting studies with Ann and Hans Schuler ( Schuler School of Fine Art in Baltimore), concentrating on portraiture and figure painting, copying the works of the Flemish, Dutch and Italian masters at the National Gallery of Art in DC and the Baltimore Museum of Art.
Upon returning to Washington, PA in 1980 I had a joint exhibition with John Luginski at W&J College displaying large works of subconscious imagery developed through a process I termed 'Continuous Drawing".
In the following decade my interests slowly incorporated Realism again as inspired by several renown Western PA artists including Malcolm Parcell, Nat Youngblood, Charlie Pitcher, Ray Dunlevy , Ray Forquer and John Luginski. After a one-person show at W&J College in November of 1990 and the birth of my daughter Kahlia in '91 (another major inspiration), I began painting landscapes based on wilderness explorations in West Virginia (Dolly Sods/Cranberry Wilderness/Otter Creek, etc.), the Laurel Highlands in Fayette Co., PA., later in the Adirondacks and various parts of New England. Meanwhile the Surreal painting efforts continued separately, though often characterized by my hiking activity.
My work was selected for several W&J Annual Juried National Painting Shows from 85' thru 2000, receiving a purchase award in 1998. Other awards included an Honorable Mention from the Olgelbay Institute in Wheeling, WV, c.1988 and Best in Show, Middletown Art Association, Rumson, NJ, c.1985. I was juried into the Pittsburgh Society of Artists in 2015.
.... to the many collectors, Kristene Asbell, Kate and Kahlia and friends for whom this website was created, much thanks for all of your support over the years.
Robin Roberts