Rob Freet is an oil and acrylic painter living in Asheville North Carolina.
Rob has been painting North Carolina scenes for 33 years. Most of the paintings on this site were painted in the last 11 years since Rob has been a full time painter.
Rob often paints outdoors but says “I am not usually a Plein Air competition painter. I am too slow. However, I love painting outdoors. My on-site acrylic paintings are usually just a beginning, a study to get the colors and composition that sets the mood of the painting." This is important because our eyes see many more colors than photographs capture. Occasionally, this is a finished work, as shown in the Plein Air section. Mostly, the paintings are started on the site in acrylics then overpainted in oils or acrylics in the studio from the photographs he also took. Rob prefers Black and White photographs to recall details of the view without influencing the color choices originally made on site. In the studio, he can take the time to build up the layers and impasto textures that express delight with paint itself. Rob often says "A good painting is not just about the subject, it is about the paint. You can get up close and almost feel the paint going on.”
Rob is also an avid photographer of NC wildlife and other subjects which don't stand still long enough to paint. His own photographs of birds, sunsets, people in action such as rowers, sailors, fishermen and hikers inspire many studio works.