It's never too late to try something new and 75-year-old Shirley Williams from Lac la Hache can attest to that.
She answered her artistic inner calling for painting just five years ago after a lifetime of suppressing her latent talent. She'd dabbled in several other areas of art all along, but after taking that serious turn, she's cultivated her interest to the point that currently, she's enjoying the limelight as the featured artist at Showcase Gallery for the month of August.
On taking up painting in earnest, Williams says, "I wanted something to do and that seemed the time to do it.
"I went through writing stories and a novel, which are all unpublished. I did sculpture, but that became very isolating.
"I felt I wanted to do something with other people, but it surprises me to be doing what I'm doing right now."
She adds painting was something she had the ability to do all of her life, but just didn't take steps in the right direction until five years ago.
Williams credits a wonderful high school art teacher for creating an artistic spark within her long ago, but for the most part, she's self-taught. A few watercolour-painting classes with local artist Sharon Isaaks opened up a new avenue, and a local workshop helped her explore others.
"I've also met some wonderful people in the Cariboo Artists Guild (CAG) who have been most helpful. When you're in the presence of people who are knowledgeable, you can't help but try to live up to what they are expecting of you."
As a member of CAG, Williams also has a few of her paintings currently hanging at Parkside Art Gallery as part of the Cariboo Artists Guild Fine Art Show and Sale.
That collection represents a sprinkling of her talents, but the display at Showcase shows the range Williams has with regards to subjects.
She says painting mountains, trees and oceans comes easily to her, but she's included some florals as well, even though they pose a challenge for her.
"I have a hard time with flowers, but they are wonderful for learning your colours. Every petal is different."
This may be Williams' first solo show, but she's pretty relaxed about it. She thinks people will look at her work and say, "Hey, she's doing alright."
Says Williams: "That makes me happy"
