The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
Brian Robinson
Dover Ohio 44622 United States Cell Phone: 330-447-6660 Website: https://510studios.wixsite.com/brianrobinson
Bio
Brian Robinson, an artist and educator based in Dover, Ohio, uses pastels to feature and bring attention to Ohio landscapes. A lifelong art maker, Robinson’s award-winning paintings have appeared in solo and collaborative exhibitions across the state, including the North Canton Art Gallery’s May Show, the Zanesville Museum of Art’s Ohio Show, and the Stark County Art Show, among many others. In 2012, he won the Purchase Award as part of the Butler Institute of American Art’s Butler American Art Show. The winning painting is now part of the Youngstown museum’s permanent collection. In addition, from 2012 to 2019, several of his paintings hung in the Ohio Governor’s residence and offices in Columbus. Robinson was the Award Artist for the 2023 Governor’s Awards for the Arts. Alongside his life as a painter, Robinson has taught art for nearly 30 years at Tuslaw High School in Massillon, Ohio.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Robinson moved to Massillon at an early age. He graduated from Perry High School in 1990 and attended the University of Akron, where he earned a degree in art education. During his time in Akron, Robinson began to focus his work on pastels and Ohio landscapes. In 2003, he graduated from Kent State University with a master’s degree in painting.
Artist Statement
As a pastel artist, the landscape has always been the most plentiful, exciting and inspiring of subjects. Realizing that the full potential of landscape may never be met in an artist’s lifetime, I began to concentrate on one type of land, season or lighting condition.
My focus is the rural farmland of Tuscarawas County. My subjects are usually from the spring and summer months with lighting produced from early morning and late evening sun.
Light, and the color that is produced from different atmospheric conditions in the landscape, has been a driving force in my work. Realizing the limitations of pigment, I have always been open to exaggerating color when creating the effect of light. The pastel medium lends itself to studying these effects.
The process of studying reality begins while standing in front of the subject. I analyze the most dominant features and begin recording my first impressions of the scene in plein air sketch form. Invariably the first impressions are the dynamic colors that are observed in the first fleeting moments. Many times in my sketches, the color will be laid down before any structure is rendered. By going through this process, I allow the impartial eye to record the image before it can be altered by my mind’s eye. While in the field, I do not allow previous knowledge or emotions to enter into the sketch. The studio work is where I meld the objective view of the sketch with my knowledge and emotions in a finalized piece. I have attempted to balance these two views of the world in my artwork.
