by Lisa Schauer
Artist Payton Brown, daughter of Berkeley Springs residents Mary and Greg Brown, won first place recently in the 16th annual Best of West Virginia open juried art exhibition in the fine arts gallery at Tamarack Marketplace in Beckley.
Tamarack Marketplace displays and sells fine arts and crafts from artists around West Virginia.
Brown’s winning entry, titled Always, Always Faithful Always There for You, is an oil painting of a Waffle House restaurant.
“I want my art to make people happy. I want to make them smile. Food is one thing we all have in common,” said Brown.
Brown is a 2017 graduate of Berkeley Springs High School and earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in art at WVU.
She credits her high school art teacher, Pam Didawick, for encouraging her to pursue art in college, and the Ice House in Berkeley Springs, for letting her do volunteer work to learn the art business.
The exhibit of West Virginia art, including Brown’s work, runs until July 31 in Beckley.
