Hello and welcome.
I am an artist living and working in the Southern Appalachian mountains in Asheville, NC
I began a lifelong love affair with nature early in life, camping with my family. My mother saw creative potential and enrolled me in early private art lessons, admirably, as she had 5 young children at home. Mary Welsh was my first mentor, her fine brushwork and pencil drawings ignited my interest. As an adult, I chose to study Forestry because as they said back in the 80's, 'you can't make a living as an artist'. The US Forest Service hired me as soon as I walked into the Ranger Station in Walhalla, fresh out of the NC State's Natural Resources program. I worked first as a Forest Ranger/Wilderness Ranger and eventually as a Firefighter. The Chattooga Wild and Scenic River region became my home, I vowed to swim every full moon in its waters and kept that vow.
Years into the field, I had the opportunity to work as a Park Ranger on the lovely coast of Maine! Natural resources never ceased to bring me deep enchantment. However, by the arrival of my 'Saturn Return', the desire to 'create' overwhelmed me on a whole new level and I needed to have a child. Moving back toward civilization, I birthed the sweetest baby girl EVER with the help of expert midwives. She is Italian/Asian and that is definitely a story for another time.
To sustain us, and with the support and encouragement of my parents, I opened an in-home day care that ran successfully for years and allowed me to stay at home with my daughter. I returned to school when she was nearly grown, to earn a nursing degree, and then found myself employed in the local hospital newborn unit, for 17 years! I can hear my mother's words, "Don't you quit that job" and I knew I had to endure to support now two daughters. I feel a deep satisfaction when I ponder the tens of thousands of lives I touched and held most tenderly while working at the hospital and the two daughters I raised, the second born 7 years after her sister, and again in the good hands of an expert midwife. I know that not everyone can deliver a breech birth, but we worked as a team and I was able to stand and deliver. Wink.
Enter my present stage of life and I am working En Plein Aire, as an artist who paints outdoors. I went back to school for a third time and earned my Associate of Fine Arts in Visual Arts, 40 years after earning the Recreation Resources Degree in Forestry. On the side, I train as a Wellness Coach at our local YMCA.
I have found abundant sources for creative expression over and over again in life, and I am grateful.
You can imagine the JOY in this Ranger's heart? I love time immersed in nature. The key I am finding is balance; as walking, hiking, sauntering, dancing, and swimming in cold mountain streams can often distract me. I meditate. And, as is true to my ethic, created this bio sans the assistance of AI, can you tell, probably. Smile.
2025 Shows
June 20-21st, Art In Bloom, Arts Center fund raiser, Black Mountain, NC
August 20-21st, BRAHM's 8th Annual Plein Air Festival, Blowing Rock, NC
October Oct 14-18th, Edisto Island Plein Air event observer, Edisto Beach, NC
Open to commissions, comments, conversation. Email me.
lindawelsh01@gmail.com
Thanks! Linda