Cheese House Gallery feature
"Art by 3 Docs who paint"

Banner Elk June 2009 – Some people take a break from classes in the summer, but Andy Burnham, Mark Littlejohn, and Gerald Olsen find it the perfect time of year to learn.  The three have spent the past decade attending Barbara Timberman’s Art Loft classes held every summer at Grandfather Country Club. 
An exhibit of their latest work, “Three Docs:  From the Healing Arts to the Visual Arts,” is on display at the Cheese House Gallery throughout June and July. 

Andy Burnham is a retired plastic surgeon who spends half the year at his house in Florida and the other half in the mountains.  He recently studied in Giverny, France, where the famous Impressionist master Claude Monet lived and painted.  Burnham is exhibiting a range of work in oils, from still life to landscape . 

“Art is taking simple materials and developing them in concert to create an emotion, recollection, or an experience which provides psychic energy for both artist and viewer,” is Mark Littlejohn’s philosophy on art.  Littlejohn set aside his early interest in art to become a Radiologist.  Now retired, he pursues painting full-time, working in watercolor as well as acrylics.  Although none of his pieces on exhibit are for sale, he says that he welcomes commissions.

Gerald Olsen taught at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine for twenty-two years prior to retiring to the mountains and taking up painting.  Olsen’s detailed landscapes depict local settings as well as coastal scenes. 

 “Three Docs: From the Healing Arts to the Visual Arts” is on display June 8-July 31 at the Cheese House Gallery.  A project of the Avery County Arts Council, the Cheese House Gallery is located at 630 Shawneehaw Avenue (Hwy. 184) in Banner Elk.  Gallery Hours are 10 AM – 4 PM Monday through Friday, and Saturdays by appointment.