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Carlton Gallery Presents Andrew Braitman Landscape Abstracts in ‘Color Your Life with Art’ Exhibit

Aug. 14, 2012. Carlton Gallery continues its 30th Anniversary Celebration and Summer Group Exhibition with Andrew Braitman’s  exhibit, “Color Your Life with ART,”  and Artist Reception on Saturday, Aug. 25 from 2 to 5 p.m. This exhibition is also a feature of the Avery Tour de Art which is on the fourth Saturday of June through November. 

Andrew Braitman is a prominent artist with a national reputation. Much has been written about his teaching style, his workshops and lectures, and most poignantly, his art. He was chosen by Nancy Reagan as one of America’s leading artists and has the satisfaction of seeing his work on display in the Smithsonian Institute. He has been a juror for art competitions and conducted many demonstrations and painting workshops where many of his students praise his ability to bring out each individual’s artistic style.

Born in Casper, Wyoming, Braitman earned his BA from the University of Maryland. It was at the university where Braitman discovered his true passion for art. He enrolled in every drawing, painting, sculpture, and lithography class offered by the university, along with physics to study light, anatomy and physiology courses in the nursing school to learn the human body. His artistic prowess earned him the Warton Award Grant for Outstanding Senior Artist. All the extra classes allowed him to receive the same award again two years later.

An avid fly fisherman, Andy learned to study the out of doors fishing. And while his landscape paintings range from rural scenes of forests, streams and barns to stone bridges and cottages found in his European painting forays. His paintings are almost abstract except for a few strokes that hint of a familiar image and reflect his brilliant use of color and composition. He renders pink skies, purple trees and other hallucinogenic colors with thick paints, a variety of textures and conceptual shapes to produce oils on canvas filled with subtle details to catch one’s eye.

The fine art of Andrew Braitman is in many public and private collections. His paintings have been featured in galleries, one-man and group shows in Santa Fe, NM; Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; Millburn, NJ; Washington, DC;  Noorbeck, Holland; Rio de Janiero and Curitiba, Brazil.

Braitman’s most recent work which will be on exhibit during his exhibition focuses on the relationship of texture and color combined with lost edges that speak more to his earlier abstraction than they do to his later reality. His recent trip to Santé Fe inspired even more abstraction in his work and at the same time retaining the color he has developed through his landscape paintings.

“The last thing I do, before I finish a piece”, says Braitman, “is turn all the lights out in the studio and leave one small light burning—just enough light to see the darks, grays, and lights of the painting and none of the color. I try to load as much color as I can into a painting and still have it read as almost photo realistic in the low light. I envision a patron calling his or her partner over at night to see their new painting just before bed. I want them to stare at their new painting with an intimate appreciation.  No one else but they and I will see the painting this way. It should blow them away.”

 Everyone is invited to visit Carlton Gallery during the 30th Anniversary Celebration and Summer Group Exhibition which continues through Sept. 15. Egi Antonaccio’s landscape exhibition continues through Aug. 22.  

The Artist Reception of Andrew Braitman’s “Color Your Life with Art” exhibit on Saturday, August 25th, 2-5 p.m. affords a unique opportunity to meet the artist while viewing his thought provoking abstract landscapes. Braitman’s exhibition runs through September 16.

The gallery is located 10 miles south of Boone and 7 miles north of Linville on Hwy 105 in the Grandfather Mountain community. For more information on artists, exhibitions or workshops, call 828-963-4288 or www.carltonartgallery.com.