Sitting at a low desk in a cozy nook of her mountaintop studio and gallery, Margaret Pennington Roberts, brush in hand, contemplates a canvas perched precariously on an easel.

When you take in the totality of photographer Bill Killillay’s work, you might think it comes as the result of intensive schooling at some fancy film or art school. But you would be wrong. In fact, you might say he just fell into it.

A muralist has been chosen to create the painting that will soon decorate a blank white wall on Mill Street’s Ward Plumbing and Heating building. From a field of 21 applicants, the Sylva Public Arts Committee selected Brevard native Aaron Harris for the job. 

Catch him if you can.

For the last few years, Steve Yocom has made quite a name for himself as one of the premier outdoor photographers in Western North Carolina and greater Southern Appalachia. If it wasn’t for his wild and wondrous images of the great outdoors, of iconic spots or off-the-beaten gems, you’d truly have no idea where he was at any given time.

When you are in the presence of the woodwork by Ben Grant, you find yourself captivated by the contours of his pieces.

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre in Waynesville is fortunate to be one of few theaters to have a talented scenic artist on staff. Not only does Lyle Baskin produce some of the most stunning backdrops for HART productions, but the backdrops also allow the theater to make money by renting the pieces out to other theaters throughout the country.

• HART’s traveling backdrops wow theaters far and wide
• HART’s scenic artist sets the stage for drama
• Six life lessons from a backdrop artist

Haywood Arts Regional Theatre is known for is top-rate shows and high-caliber acting not typical of community theaters.

But HART has a well-kept secret that pulls its stage action together, a secret that’s hidden in plain sight of audiences, always noticed but rarely noted: its stunning backdrops.

Lyle Baskin is a man of high places. He’s spent most of his life on a ladder.

Savannah, Georgia-based artist Scott “Panhandle Slim” Stanton was born in Maryland and raised in Pensacola, Florida, but he has been known to pop up in all quarters of these United States, including Asheville — owing to his family’s vacation cabin in Swannanoa.

Barbara Robinson can find artistic inspiration wherever she may be. 

Sometimes it’s looking out over Frye Mountain from her art studio window at home, while at other times perhaps a particular barn she spots while driving through Swain County will pique her interest. Other times it’s a vision in her head that works its way out over time.