Really good art makes me sigh. One hand will flutter up to my chest and I will release a little sigh and smile with joy. This is how I know that I have connected with a piece of art. I am not an artist myself, so I need to live vicariously through those that do create visual art masterpieces.
![artist Asheville North Carolina](https://i0.wp.com/mrshomefree.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Brit-Oie-2.jpg?resize=622%2C615&ssl=1)
On a recent visit to Asheville, North Carolina’s famous River Arts District, I spent a few fleeting hours hiking up one hill and down another discovering studio secrets. In the studio of mixed media painter Brit Oie (pronounced ay-ya), there was a whole lot of sighing going on.
![](https://i0.wp.com/mrshomefree.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/red-yellow-mountains.jpg?resize=676%2C507&ssl=1)
A soft-spoken native of Norway, Oie began her art career as a weaver. Eventually, she tried her hand at painting. Even as a painter, though, a weaver’s love of the tactile flowed like the mountain streams she depicts. Craving a way to combine texture and pattern with color, she experimented with collage and her current artistic method was born.
![artist Asheville North Carolina](https://i0.wp.com/mrshomefree.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Britt-Oie-working-1.jpg?resize=676%2C507&ssl=1)
Today, Oie collages textured wallpapers to canvases. Then, she coats the canvases in multiple layers of acrylic paint to create her own soft color washes. The final effect is natured-based work that showcases the mountain ranges of her beloved Norway and North Carolina. The soft mists are here. The rolling hills and the reflective pools are here. A stroll through her workspace at Riverside Studios is like a drive along the Blue Ridge Parkway.
![artist Asheville North Carolina](https://i0.wp.com/mrshomefree.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Britt-Oie-working-closeup-2.jpg?resize=676%2C507&ssl=1)
![artist Asheville North Carolina](https://i0.wp.com/mrshomefree.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Britt-Oie-working-closeup-1.jpg?resize=676%2C507&ssl=1)
As I travel the Southeastern U.S. full-time, collecting things is not wise. With no home base to display art pieces that I love, I have to be content to spend an afternoon admiring the work in her studio. So, I tucked her business card into a pouch with other treasured cards that I hope to revisit. Someday, when I have a home base again, I may take an Oie painting home with me and I will visit the Blue Ridge Parkway every time I look at it. And I will sigh.
More of Brit’s beautiful work can be seen here: Brit J. Oie | River Arts District Artists
Are there things that you seek out when you travel that make you sigh with joy?
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