Irmaly Brackin

The adjective "creative" does not begin to describe Irmaly Brackin. As she explains it, she has been in an "atmosphere of art" all her life. She came from what she describes as a family of artists. Her grandfather was the famous German Expressionist painter, Hans Grohs. During Irmaly's lifetime, her mother brought all of Groh's work to America, filling her house with it and allowing an impressionable Irmaly to be exposed to its wonders.

Her mother studied art in Alabama and Mexico and became an art historian, teaching in junior colleges. Irmaly grew up in Miami, where the vivid colors and imagery of Cuban and Latin American artists would come to play a strong role in her sense of image and the direction her work would take.

With her European background, she was able to take advantage of some extraordinary study opportunities. In 1980 she attended the Paris American Art Academy and worked there with an Argentine printmaker and painter. She also studied in Denmark at a folk art school, where she explored puppetry and theater and costumes, continuing to paint all the while. in 1981 she attended the University of Wurzberg in Germany on a study abroad program through Appalachian State University. She earned her BFA degree from Appalachian State in 1981, where Dean Aydelotte and Noyes Capehart were strong positive influences. In Chapel Hill, she continued her studies with Peter Plagian, who was world-renowned for his minimal bold-color statements in painting. By 1986, she had earned her MFA degree from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Brackin's list of awards, one-person and group exhibitions and professional accomplishments is long. She is represented by Calvin and Lloyd in Norfolk, Va., by Carteret Contemporary Art in Morehead City NC, by the Sher Gallery in Miami Beach, FL and by Art Emancia in Asheville NC.