Bio.
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Teresa Robinette was born in Appalachia and has lived and exhibited in a variety of cities in the United States, from New York to Santa Fe. Her art can be found in major collections both here and abroad. Returning to the region after a 30-year absence, she uses the memories of her childhood in this haunting place to forge a unique and colorful style that she calls Folk-Realism. Backgrounds of flat-patterned landscapes with traditional folk imagery and symbols provide depth and balance for the large, realistically-portrayed figures that become the focal point. She considers her work a documentary in progress, recording for posterity the vanishing culture of her ancestors in Appalachia. For me I paint memories, says Ms. Robinette. I paint stories. I paint the ghosts that walk through my life and house. It is those distant images and voices of the mountains that bid me to paint them.

Artist Statement

Folk-Realism is a style I have developed to portray the world I come from.

To accurately paint Appalachia I am using the folk art of the area, including the flat geometric shapes and colors found in everything from local quilts to painted carved-wood figures. These influences and imagery are repeated throughout my work.

I have also rendered some of the shapes and forms in a realistic style. This is to show the contrast in the way of life that exists in Appalachia. The flat patterned landscape is fractured by a lifelike figure that seems to float and move about the canvas. It is a question of what is real and what each piece really represents.

For me I paint memories. I paint stories. I paint the ghosts that walk through my life and house. It is those distant images and voices of the mountains that bid me to paint them. Ancestors long since past are the faces that fade in and out of the canvases.

The Appalachians echo with the sounds of another time. Ancient rythms, music of people like the Carter Family flow through the paintings colors and shapes. It is all pattern and place. The words and old ways of speaking find homes in the titles of my work.

Crows fly from treetop to treetop carrying messages, reminding us all of what is past and what is fading from view. It is these elusive memories and lost people that I devote myself to. It is the end of an era in Appalachia, the end of a pattern that I am desperate to paint.

I paint all I hear in the Whispers from the Ridge.