I'm from the deep south, and I'm living in Beauregard, Alabama.
I've been an artist since childhood, and it is in creating art that I find joy. When the painting is working, I'm happy. My greatest wish is to enjoy the process, and to create something unique.
Watercolor is what I'm happiest doing right now, although I have used oil paints for a long time, and acrylics before that. I remember when my two boys were small, I wanted to paint. I began with acrylics because I felt that they were the least toxic to my children. Working totally on my own, I plodded along. I bought the Walter Foster Art Books (they were only $1.00 then) and some cheap canvas paper (awful stuff!), a few brushes, and I was on my way! I didn't know anything then, I remember how wonderful it was to be on my own, learning from my mistakes.
Later on, I had another child, a daughter this time. During her childhood I explored oil painting. It was landscapes, landscapes, and more tiresome landscapes.
When my daughter, Robin, was in the 5th grade, I was experimenting with painting with a knife! I had this huge seascape perfectly finished, the foreground rocks were just the right "rockiness", and of course by this time I had graduated to great big canvases, a good easel, etc. The morning after I finished it, I went in and something looked very different! The rocks were all wrong! My little budding artist had added HER touch! But would you believe it sold?
After many landscapes, many techniques tried, sales, learning to frame, a friend asked me to do a portrait of his 4 year old daughter. She had passed away, and they wanted me to use photographs and do a painting of her. I did. How fascinating! Skin, beautiful, reflective, gorgeous skin.... shadows, reflected light, colors in the face, tiny hands with lovely little fingers and fingernails... and as you may have guessed, I was totally hooked!
I'm really taking a chance now, letting you see my very first oil portrait! Well, we all grow and learn. I still remember how much I loved painting "Beckie".
Here's another early portrait. This is my daughter Robin when she was sixteen, from a photograph I took on Easter Sunday.
Then I got interested in watercolor. I took my first watercolor class through Continuing Education at Auburn University. Oooo! How I hated that uncontrollable medium! After years and years of having a stroke stay put right where you put it, I was going crazy! Threw my brush a couple of times, too. But, then.... I started to love the way it ran across the paper, the diffusions, the wonderful things that could happen all by themselves... and now I really love watercolor, although I still do oils from time to time.
I have three children, Chuck, Kendall and Robin. Three grandchildren, too. Ashley (who is featured in The Tea Party and Carly , who is there also. Charlene needs to have her painting done! We have a new grandchild! Her name is Kathleen Rose Price and she was born December 5, 1996. So sweet!
I have a full time position in the Mathematics Department at Auburn University as a Scientific Text Processor - that means that I type in a special program called TeX - documents which are scientific. In this case many, many equations! I like it though. I've been here 18 years in this position. You can email me at work here.
As for pets, I have 1 indoor cat, Nancy, 2 outdoor cats, Aubie and Krystal, and 2 part-time cats, Bo Bo and Leroy, who are manx. See a story about Bo Bo up in a tree at here.