He says it felt a bit weird at first to return as a teacher to the Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, elementary school he’d attended as a child. He found himself sitting in the faculty room with people only a few years earlier he’d addressed as “Mr.” and “Mrs.” Brad Stroman was about to embark on a 34-year career as an art educator.

He taught elementary art for roughly ten years before giving up finger paints and crayon-resist masterpieces to move to the high school where he stayed another 24 years teaching everything from painting and drawing to pottery, sculpture, and making jewelry.

“My most memorable moments were those ‘I got it’ times when students would get looks of excitement when they solved a creative problem,” says Brad. He adds proudly, “Many of my former students are now successful gallery artists, art educators, museum curators, and commercial artists.”

Another highlight was in 1990 when he won a national award for his work as an art educator. “I was chosen along with five other teachers to attend a residency at Colorado College. The personal immersion into my work, the interaction with other teacher/artists, and the chance to work with nationally-acclaimed artists was an opportunity of a lifetime,” says Brad. “It gave me the confidence to continue with my art career.”

Brad says he’s been drawing pictures for as long as he can remember. As a young child, he filled sketchbooks with scenes of the world around him and of the fantasies he conjured up in his mind. The influence of art was always strong in the Stroman household and his parents’ support was there from the beginning.

“My father was the greatest guy who ever lived,” says Brad. “I loved watching him in his sign shop. He was one of a dying breed—a freehand brush letterer. His signs were works of art in themselves.” Brad has discovered other creative relatives on his father’s side of the family, including a Civil War veteran whose discharge papers listed him as an artist.

When Brad won a regional art contest during his early high school days, both he and his family sensed he would pursue a career in art, and he was only a junior when he decided to become an art teacher. “I loved the relaxed environment of the public school art room. It was a haven for me ...” He earned his degree in art education from Kutztown College (now Kutztown University) near Philadelphia.

All throughout his teaching career, Brad exhibited and sold his own art. From almost the very beginning, he says, he’s concentrated on wildlife art. “I grew up loving nature, and with increasingly worrisome news coming to light about our world, I felt a growing need to do something visually as an artist about our fragile environment.”

While vacationing in Sedona, Arizona, several years ago, he had what he can only describe as an “epiphany” as he absorbed the mystic beauty of the red rocks and gorgeous sunsets. He says he realized his whole compositional approach needed to change to convey the message of appreciating nature before it was lost. He began researching Eastern religions for guidance and soon found himself immersed in Zen Buddhism and Native American wisdom.

“It seemed the more I investigated, the more evident it was that the earth is a fragile living thing and that we humans are negligent in our duties as its guardian and protector.”

Brad began painting what some might regard as the mundane in nature: insect-eaten leaves, discarded feathers, stones from creeks, seedpods, twigs. “There is contentment in simplicity,” he says. “The Zen belief is that an object has dignity before and after, and not just at its stage of perfection. Choosing these items from nature suited my new direction perfectly.” He adds, “I get great satisfaction watching people stare into my work, meditating quietly on a lonely leaf.”

In January 2009, three years after retiring from his career as an art teacher, Brad and his wife and son moved to Black Mountain after visiting the area several times over the years. Of moving here, Brad says, “It felt like coming home.”

For more information, visit www.bradstroman.com. His works can be seen at Red Wolf Gallery in Brevard and in other galleries across the country. He also maintains a small viewing gallery at his painting studio in Pink Dog Creative on Depot Street in Asheville’s River Arts District.