Eddie Kent Tallent earned his BFA with honors in fine arts/painting from the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida. After graduating, he began a career in higher education first at Ringling, then at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, Michigan, and more recently at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. He currently resides in his hometown in the foothills of North Carolina and dedicates himself to his art full time. His work is included in private and public collections nationwide and he is often tapped to act as juror, judge, or curator at numerous art competitions and exhibitions in the Western North Carolina area. Regionally known for his landscape paintings, his more recent work, executed in various media, has evolved to include multiple series of theme-based abstractions and figurative works inspired by nature, movement, dreams, and myth.