A True Renaissance Man - Artists Matthew Lee Hoxit

Every once in a while I happen upon some extraordinary human being who deserves not just my recognition, but that of the community at large. Such is the case with a young man named Matthew Lee Hoxit, chief artist and owner of Laurelwood Studio. The 33 year old is a native of Brevard, N.C. , a charming mountain community set in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina. His ancestors have lived in this neck of the mountains for several generations and include some very colorful characters, among them Norweigian immigrants and Cherokee Indians. His looks belie all veins of his ancestry, with his malachite green eyes, copper streaked hair, high cheekbones and athletic build. But his looks do not tell the whole story; in fact, they almost misguide the beholder. To see him, one might think him to be a wrestler, or construction worker. Perhaps guessing him to be the artist exraordinaire that he is would come after hearing his story. When he speaks, one gets a glimpse into this man, so filled with passion and compassion, humor and insight, vision and spirituality.
He is a master of the art form known as trompe l'oeil, a "trick of the eye". He can take a simple white wall and transform it into a Tuscan vineyard. He can take a bland slab of carport cement and create a rock quarry, complete with veins and cracks seemingly put there by the centuries. Recently, I was exposed to a wide range of his work while visiting a new restaurant in Brevard called "The Quarry". It is there that Matthew completed six huge murals, each 6' x 9', and each vastly different than the next one. One is a jazz starlet bedecked in diamonds, another is a vista of the Blue Ridge, accented by the presence of a pair of red-tailed hawks in flight. Yet another shows a couple enjoying dinner, gazing through a "window", observing an historical mansion well known in the area. His abilities boggle the mind for each creation is uniquely different from the next, and from anything I've ever seen.

Matthew has also mastered the art of caricatures and portraits, modern oil painting, charcoal sketches and more. He also creates beautiful benches and swings, using indigenouse woods such as locust and laurel, and each unique with its own handcarved themes and designs.

Most surprising is that this man has never taken an art class and does much of his work from his imagination. He has been drawing since he was five years old, and each of his three young children appears to have similar abilities. The youngest, eight year old Camron, draws animals with such detail that one would swear they were done in an adult art class! So, after all, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

Meeting Matthew Lee Hoxit is like meeting someone you know will go on to grand accomplishments in his life. It''s been a pleasure to meet him now and have a chance to interview him before the world at large discovers him, and there is no doubt that they will and probably already are!