Bonnie Brooks was introduced to the arts and their importance at a very young age, by her mother.  Every weekend she would take her to the New York Art Institute and other museums nearby.  At the age of eight she was chosen out of students from many schools to attend Buffalo State University in New York.  Bonnie was not only in the visual arts, but also danced, acted and plays the flute and oboe.

Bonnie did her undergraduate work at Western Michigan University, studying watercolors and drawing with Harold Hefner, of Spain.  She also received her BA in textile design and art education.  The artist completed her Masters at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan where she studied watercolors, art therapy and pottery.  Pottery is one of the things that brought her to North Carolina to write a thesis on North Carolina pottery.

 Bonnie has been teaching art for over thirty years and her paintings have been in many juried art exhibits around the country.  The artist studies of art are not exclusive to school, but she has traveled around the world to such places as Spain, England, France, Austria, Germany, Hungary and Czech. She was Vice President of the Visual Art Exchange, a member of the North Carolina Art Educators Association, the Michigan Watercolor Society, helps do fund raising for the United Arts and has received the Raleigh Metal of Arts.

Bonnie majored in watercolors as an undergraduate and now paints mostly in oils.  “My work use to be thin layers of transparent paint giving a quality of depth.  It now has a different quality of depth using the rich luster of oils in a thick impressionistic style of painting.  I still layer my work painting all the tree branches even if they are not seen covered by leaves.  This  gives a quality of deepness through perspective and accuracy of the leaves hanging on the branches.  My subject matter is still landscapes but in a broader view. I travel to Europe and other parts of the country to inspire a large range of landscapes.”

“I am a realist artist because I believe in painting what I can see.  What God has created.”