A life-long Kentuckian,  Marta Elam Dorton has taken note of the great variety of landforms and colors that Kentucky has to offer. Marta was born in West Liberty, in Morgan Co., Kentucky. When she was two, her parents moved the family to Lexington, hoping for better opportunities. The family returned often to their native roots in Morgan Co. to visit family and friends still there. This gave Marta a sense of family, place and connection that has elevated eastern Kentucky to a special place in her heart. Marta graduated from University of Kentucky earning a BA in Art Studio. Her emphasis was painting, with acrylic paints her preferred medium. During the next twenty years Marta worked in the graphic arts industry. wnting to get back to her roots, Marta returned to creating colorful art. Working in acrylics, pastels and printmaking, she puts life experience and unique insight into her pieces.  The Kentucky mountains continue to call her back. Her art as well as her heart return there often to reminisce and create a way to share the truly uniqueness of Kentucky.

All proceeds of the sale of these paitings and prints will go to fight human trafficking.

Come and enjoy 30+ paintings by this unique Indian lady who is determined to share her real life experiences with the American public to make life better for thousands of victims of human trafficking - even here in our backyards of the Appalachian region.

John Kristensen lives in the small fishing town of Loekken on the Danish north west coast, where he has had his own studio for the past 25 years, just a few hundred yards from the North Sea. The rough, beautiful and unpredictable nature and special light give him such a rich inspiration, which has placed him as one of the region's most attractive painters. Like famous painters from the Golden Age of Danish painters such as Kroyer and Ancher, John Kristensen paints on location to catch the originality of the scenery.
Exhibitions in the USA, Denmark, France and Germany. In 1998 John had a very successful exhibition at the former Upstairs Gallery in Berea.

Kathleen Esser's art has been exhibited in numerous galleries and it has received recognition from the Illiana Artists, the Lexington Art League and the Kentucky Watercolor Society. She has been juried as an Exhibiting Artist with the Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen and an Exhibiting Artisan at the Kentucky Artisan Center in Berea, Ky.

Dragan Dmitrovic was born on May 15, 1953 in Kraljevo, Serbia. At the age of 15 he was admitted to a high school of arts in Nis, Serbia and later on moved to Banja Luka.  He has been inspired by the terrifying civil wars in ex-Yugoslavia. Dragan works primarily in water colors and Indian ink. He is unafraid to use intense colors and paints with a bravado that is unique and unadulterated by formal art education. Dragan's works are populated by fantastic images often inspired by art and lore of the Middle Ages and ancient cultures ranging from Ancient Greece to Ancient China, to Incas and Mayas. Another distinctive feature of Dragan's art is the careful
depiction of minute details, often rhythmically repeating and pulsating on the page. 
Dragan continues to work and reside in Banja Luka, accompanied by his wife Zdenka. His paintings are in private collections around ther world - and at Berea Center for the Arts.

Painting has become a new venture for Robert Berger. In 2003, at the urguing of a friend, he picked up a brush, took a few classes and the rest is history. Before retirment, Bob was a commercial insurance underwriter in Florida. He served proudly as a U.S. Marine and among his hobbies he is an accomplished gunsmith. Bob's paintings draw from his wide travel experiences and his composure for detail orientation. In some of his paintings you may even find a ghost. Bob has showcased his talent at several festivals, at Berea Arts Council and Main Street Cafe, Berea. He and his wife now make Berea, Kentucky their home.

Kimberly Erb is from Columbus, OH. See her original paintings at Berea Center for the Arts and at Main Street Cafe.

Laurie Elizabeth Breton of Fort Myers, FL is a professional equine artist. Most people are happy to possess one talent. Some, like Laurie are blessed with many. Not only is the native of Avon Park, FL an accomplisehed horsewoman, but she is also a gifted equine artist with specialty in horse racing. She holds a BA in Art Education.
Because of her hands on experience and love for such a magnificent animal, she can capture the beauty, strenght and gracefulness of the thoroughbred race horse. Her paintings are very colorful and realistic and would compliment many diffenrent types of decor. Laurie had one of her paintings  featured on the cover of the Arabian Canadian News magazine. Her beautiful limited edition prints make a unique and wonderful gift for family and friends. She is represented at the Kentucky Horse Park.

David Farmer has painted since attending the Columbis College of Art and Design and The Cincinnati Art Academy in Ohio. His education also includes independent study and art workshops with other professional artists as well as a BA from The University of The Cumberland. He has participated in juried exhibits in Ky, Oh, In, and several Regional shows. He is a juried exhibiting member of The Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen. He is currently Artist-in-Residence of The Community Arts Center, Danville, KY. 

R.M. Rollins is a 35-year old self taught artist of Ricmond, Kentucky. He has been independently studying art in all its forms for over a decade. He has been making art full time since 2006. In the last four years he has exhibited his artwork at many art festivals, galleries, and even in a museum. In the past two years R.M. Rollins has started  entering his artwork  into art competitions, and he has won 17 awards so far.  It seems like R.M. Collins has a bright future ahead of him, and currently he has entered into the future generation art prize competition in Kiev, Ukraine and in London's (GB) Saatchi gallery art show down competition.
Just to make it short; We are thrilled to have such obvious talent among our exhibitors at Berea Center for the Arts.

John Purviance Bonsal (Jack) was born in 1926 in Miami, FL and died in 1987 at Oxford, MD. Exhibitions include Baltimore Museum of Arts, Ringling Museum, Sarasota and commercial galleries in Washington D.C., Baltimore and New York.  Jack is represented in collections in Moscow (Russia),  London (GB), Tokyo (Japan), and Ottawa (Canada). For three years he served as Artist-at-Large at the Baltimore Museum of Arts. Jack was also associate editor of "Podium" magazine specializing in art and drama critisism. Jack retired as an executive of USF&G, Maryland's largest corporation, and he was a graduate from John Hopskins University. Jack is listed in "Who's Who".
Berea Center for the Arts is very pleased and honored to introduce the public to six of Jack Bonsal's paintings. 

Pamela Clegg is a Juried and Exhibiting member of the Kentucky Guild of Artist and Craftsman in both pastel and pencil and past President of KGAC. She is a member of the Scott County Art League. Working daily in her home studio, Pamela concentrates on subject, composition, color and various techniques. Through extensive painting and independent study she continues to grow as a practicing artist.

Patsy Corns is an artist who works primarily with oils. While her techniques and brush strokes have been constantly changing, she strives to create work that evokes a mood or feeling that will carry the viewer beyond the concrete image captured.

Diana Colgate has studied under the guidance of Louisville artist, LaVerne Arkenberg and Marianna McDonald of Lexington, Ky. She has won numberous awards and you can find her portraits and landscapes in many private collections across the country. Public exhibits include Brown-Forman and the Knetucky Artisan Center in Berea, KY. Diana is also a juried member of the Kentucky Guild of Arts and Craftsmen.
Her love for her home, family, and the land is revealed in her work. Diana's home studio located on ten acres in Shepherdsville, KY is where you'll find her working and teaching classes in pastels and oils.

Berea's landscape and images from world travel, from Central Asia to the Antarctic, have been the themes of paintings by Lester Pross. Retired Professor of Art at Berea College (1946-91), he has degrees in art from Oberlin College, and has done additional study at the Skowhegan School in Maine, Ohio University, and with Kono Shuson in Japan. He has also taught and studied at the university of the Punjab in Lahore, Pakistan, The American University in cairo, Egypt, and Kobe College, Japan. He is the founder and first president of the Kentucky Guild of Arts and Craftsmen, has exhibited regionally and in the Smithsonian Institution's traveling exhibitioon of Art from Appalachia. Berea and Kentucky artists have a lot to be thankful for and so have hundreds of students, who have met Les Pross on their way to become better artists. Berea Center for the Arts is grateful for this opportunity to display his art work.

Elsie Harris has exhibited her work extensively both in juried and invitational exhibitions for many years. Her work has been published in Best of Acrylic Painting and Landscape Inspirations. Her paintings are in many private and public collections in the U.S. and abroad. She has served as President of the Lexington Art League Chairperson of the LAL Endowment Fund . She also served for two years as the representative for the Visual Artists at the Market in the Craft Market program of the Kentucky Arts Council.

Jonathan Farley is an oil painter of impressionist landscapes and seascapes. He studied with Kirk Miller, but is mostly a self taught painter with 15 years experience. He spent 2 years in Berea, Kentucky and showed my work at The Gallery and Main Street Cafe. He has lived in California and traveled to Fiji, Romania, Guatamala, Mexico, and The Philippines, all of which have served as a basis of inspiration for his paintings. He is also a plein air painter and a member of the Portland Plein Air and Studio Painters.

Vera Martin is a self-taught water color artist from Trenton, KY.  She started some serious painting at 32 years of age in 1999. Her main passion is horses, which is reflected in her beautiful paintings. Her inspiration comes from the farm she lives on with her 10 children (8 sons and 2 daughters) and husband, who farms with horses, mostly black ones. Each of the boys has a pony they ride to school.
She is keen on good, old fashioned housework such as canning, cooking and baking. This fall she will take up gourd arrangemnts in baskets with drioed flower from her own garden.

Mike Walker is an independent artist from Berea, Ky. His passion for creativity joins with his passion for God the Father to create a variety of works in his portfolio.

A native of Kentucky, Laura Lee Cundiff of Versailles studied design, illustraion, painting and printmaking in New York City. Currently she is concentrating on figurative painting, particularly of danceers and musicians. She has created wood engravings for letterpress publisher Larkspur Press. She is a member of Lexington art League and Kentucky Guild of Arts and Craftsme. In addition, she has illustrated or designed 11 published books.
Laura Lee is an elegant dancer, and she takes great pleasure in painting situations from English Country and Contras Dances. Her work has been exhibited from New York to Louisville.

Harold Cole of Berea, KY is a new painter, and some of his early production is displayed at Berea Center for the Arts, including drawings and acrylics.

Mary Margeret Brown is an artist from Lexington, KY who is inspired by the angels that surrounds her. See some of her nature paintings at Berea Center for the Arts.
www.jesus-angels.com