The Town Framery & Gifts is proud to showcase the prints and original artwork of local and regional artists. These artists specialize in different mediums ranging from oils to watercolors, and their subjects vary from beautiful landscapes to flowers and animals with traditional and some contemporary interpretations. Also, available are blank notecards and greeting cards by various artists. Check out their biographies to learn more about these unique artists. This is a sampling of the artists’ works and may not represent what is available currently at The Town Framery.
Mary Wilbourn
Mary Wilbourn was a native of Knoxville. Mary has three children: daughter Jan is the Director of The Showcase School of Photography in Atlanta; daughter Debi who owns and operates The Town Framery & Gifts, an evolution of The Mary Wilbourn Gallery; and son James resides in South Florida. James, the youngest, is hearing impaired. The family moved to Atlanta in the early 1960’s for James to attend The Atlanta Speech School. Mary stayed in Atlanta for over 20 years working in the business community. Upon her return to East Tennessee and retirement from Knox County in 1989, she opened her first Gallery as a way of encouraging herself to paint, a hobby since she was young. She released her first limited edition print the same year. Mary’s primary medium consisted of watercolor; however, she dabbled in oils, pastels and pen & ink. Mary was self taught and her preferred subjects are beautiful flowers and birds of her native region. Mary passed away in 2018.
Donna Brass
Donna is a native of Knoxville, TN and studied art at the University of Tennessee and Southern University in Chattanooga. She has been painting for over 35 years. Donna enjoys the detailed process of balancing color, texture and light to create a view for her subjects. She works in watercolors, acrylic, oil and mixed media.
Roger Canada
Roger has been photographing the natural world for over thirty years, beginning with the purchase of his first camera as a teenager for a family trip to Hawaii. Since then he as moved from a 35mm to a medium format film cameras on to digital capture. One of his favorite areas is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and he has paid repeat visits season after season always looking for a better light and/or conditions to see what God has given to us on any given day. The pure enjoyment of being out in nature with his camera brings him back again and again. Other favorite areas Rogers frequents are the Blue Ridge Parkway, Roan Mountain and Colorado. He was the official photographer for the Great Smoky Mountains 75th Anniversary Calendar sponsored by the Great Smoky Mountains Association in 2009. His work has also been published in calendars for NY Life, Met Life and others as well as Blue Ridge Country magazine and Sierra Club.
Lil Clinard
Lil was born and raised in Tennessee, currently living in Tellico Village with her husband, John, who is an accomplished oil painter. They have a daughter, Christian, who is a dentist in West Knoxville. Christian’s office contains a gallery of 25 of her parents’ paintings. After her retirement from SAIC in Oak Ridge, Lil has devoted her time in acrylic and watercolor techniques to create paintings from her travels to the beach, mountains and her own back yard.
Linda Johnson
Linda started watercolor painting in 2002 on a whim while living in San Diego, CA, spurred by her love of gardening, flowers, and a collection of orchids. She is self-taught, but received private lessons and workshops by well-known artists around the country to improve her artistic skill. Her paintings were shown in recent Oak Ridge Open Shows and the Tennessee Watercolor Society’s First Biennial Online Show, and received numerous awards at various art shows. Linda is a member of the Tennessee Watercolor Society, the Knoxville Arts and Culture Alliance and the Tellico Village Art Guild.
Joe Trout
A native of Lenoir City TN, Joe is a retired postal carrier. Since retirement, Joe has dedicated himself to the art of watercolors, which he has practiced for more than 50 years. He creates scenes both local and from his travels to eastern North Carolina coast and abroad.
Bob Turney
Bob is a photographer from Lenoir City, TN. He is a retired optometrist with a degree from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, TN who practiced for 33 years in Crossville, TN. Photography has been a hobby of Bob’s for over 30 years and he focuses on landscape photography. His trips to Yellowstone National Park, Teton Nation Park and Everglades National Park have guided him to try his expertise at wildlife photography.
Lynda Wheeler
Lynda has lived in Lenoir City all her life. Ever since she took her first art class, she has had an aptitude for expressing herself through watercolor, though she will try new mediums, such as fiber art and weaving. For every piece, the letters TYL appears under her signature for “Thank You Lord.”
Phyllis Wilson
Born and raised in Knoxville, Phyllis became interested in photography when her son and his wife bought her a birdfeeder for her birthday. She tried taking pictures of all the birds coming to it, but her camera was not adequate enough. So she invested in a better one. As a child, her father taught her about the wonders of nature and she uses that information to photograph the nature around her. She loves to capture what she sees and keep it forever.
Wayne Blankenship
Wayne is originally from Tellico Plains, but grew up and lives in Lenoir City, TN. He worked alongside Jim Gray and Alan Shuptrine. He does acrylic, oils and watercolor, but often will mix mediums.
Doug Winfrey
Originally from California, Doug now resides in Knoxville, TN, inspired by the mountains, forests, four seasons, peace and quiet. After being a police officer for 28 years, Doug realized his true passion is painting. Despite not having formal training, he had an intense desire to create. He attended classes and art shows, read books, visited art museums in France and studied under landscape artist, James Crompton, for four years now. His biggest project involved painting scenes from every mile marker on the Blue Ridge Parkway, all 469 miles. His medium of choice is oil on canvas. Doug continues to paint and enjoy the beauty of Tennessee and the Carolinas and the warmth of the people.
