Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 8, 1995                   TAG: 9507100064
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MUNCIE, IND.                                LENGTH: Medium

PBS `TREES' PAINTER DIES AT 52

Ross died Tuesday at his home in Orlando, Fla.

As host of the Public Broadcasting System series ``The Joy of Painting,'' Ross introduced landscape oil painting to millions.

His show, taped at WIPB in Muncie since 1983, aired on virtually every PBS station in the United States, plus stations in Hong Kong, Iran, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea and Turkey.

``I've never claimed that this is investment art,'' he said in 1990. ``When we first started out, all the art colleges and universities across the country would sort of badmouth what we were doing.

``It's funny that a lot of them now are sending us letters saying, `We may not totally agree with the way you paint, but we appreciate what you're doing, because you're sending literally thousands of people into art colleges.'''

Ross was known as much for his frizzy hair and gentle manner as for his quick and simple brush technique.

While daubing a barn or a cloudbank, he would cajole viewers to be creative with their ``own little world'' and add ``happy little trees'' to their landscapes.

Ross taped a promo for MTV two years ago that had him painting the MTV logo and declaring the music-video network the ``home of happy little trees.''

Ross began painting while in the Air Force, where he took several art courses. He later trained with Bill Alexander, another PBS art instructor.

He was sent to Alaska in 1963 and became captivated by the scenery. His first venture in art was painting Alaskan scenes inside gold-panning tins to sell to tourists.

After retiring from the Air Force in 1981, Ross began teaching art for an art-supply company before going out on his own.

He persuaded a public television station in Falls Church, Va., to look at a tape of his class, and he was offered a pilot. He chose to produce the show at WIPB.

Ross is survived by his wife, Lynda; a son; a brother; and a half-brother.