Four artists are behind the Inner Banks Artisans’ Center’s newest booth, For Artists. Lou Everett, Bob Pittman, Dana Eddings and Trisha Oniskey opened the space about a month ago to sell their original fine art.
Everett said the group did not come by its name easily. It wanted something that let people know they support the arts. Everett and Pittman are behind the start of Greenville’s Brushstrokes, a group of artists who come together to critique work, share ideas and promote local events.
“There are a number of artists here who are members,” Everett said of the local arts center.
Another part of that support is education. Most members of the group teach classes. Pittman teaches a watercolor class in Oriental. Everett teaches at a “travelling studio” in Greenville. Onisky will be offering a course in oil painting at the downtown arts center.
One of the advantages to having four artists is the variety of mediums and subjects the artists approach.
Eddings started in wood sculpture. He received a best-in-show award before switching to watercolors. He found a way to add dimensions to his paintings. Some are reliefs layered with watercolors.
Eddings sold his veterinary practice seven years ago and devotes his “work days” to painting in his studio. He currently studies under local artist Jeff Jakub.
“He does a lot of mission work overseas,” Everett said.
Pittman, a retired architect from Rivers’ Associates in Greenville, lives in Oriental. He has a passion for good stories. When he isn’t teaching or painting, he is attending classes in storytelling.
Pittman paints a lot of familiar coastal scenes and rural landscapes. When people started referring to him as the artist who paints with lots of blues, Pittman challenged himself to avoid all of those blue skies he painted. When asked what colors he most often uses for skies these days, Pittman said, “Any color I want.”
Everett recommends visiting her favorite “art gallery,” Vidant Medical Center, where halls and lobbies are full of Pittman’s work.
“Bob was one of my mentors. That’s how we came to be good friends,” she said. “Bob has been the most well-known artist in the state.”
Pittman disagreed.
“My fame doesn’t reach too far,” he said.
Everett recalled some of Pittman’s advice. He told her to always carry a sketchbook with her, and she does. Pittman also suggested using larger paintbrushes.
Everett is a professor emeritus at the East Carolina University College of Nursing. Her work graces the covers of two nursing textbooks. Her work is also in “Painting North Carolina: A Visual Journey” by Kimberlee C. Maselli.
Most of Everett’s work is in watercolor, but she has won awards for works in acrylics and oils.
Onisky is a recent transplant. She moved from Philadelphia to Winterville last year. She did not know much about the Washington area before jumping into this venture.
“I came here because I thought the world of Lou and I trusted her judgment,” Onisky said.
Everett said the high professional standards of the center and the supportive arts scene attracted the four to the area.
“Music in the Streets, local restaurants, all are supportive of the arts,” Everett said. “And we all have had the flexibility of coming into the studio at whatever hours we want.”
Everett said For Artists looks forward to getting involved in art events downtown.
The artists plan to participate in a new event at the center, Art Uncorked. They will provide art supplies and instruction from some of the best artists in the area for a big art party. The first event will be sometime in October.