Penny Keller Evans
The oldest of five girls, I was born into a creative, loving family of artists in Goldsboro, NC. Art has been part of me from the earliest days I can remember and has run in our family for many generations. I grew up with my dad working late nights in his art shop and upside down portraits high on the shelf in the kitchen for days. That's how he said he found his mistakes. He attended the Feree School of Art in Raleigh in 1947. He lived a good life and passed away at the age of 96, but he will always be in my heart and a wonderful inspiration to me. Three out of five sisters are artists, all very different styles, but it's definitely part of who we are and how we grew up.
I was formally trained at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh well after starting my family. This led me to a long, fun career in television advertising and design, whereby my love for art could translate into the corporate world on the 55th floor of the US Steel building in Pittsburgh. I produced tv and radio commercials there for about 14 years. After that, I returned to North Carolina and designed for the tropical enterprises of Panama Jack for about 12 years until they decided to get out of textiles in North Carolina. The last segment of my career was working with the print and design industries within NC State government. I am fortunate to now be retired and living on the beautiful coast of North Carolina and jumping in full tilt with exploration of my artistic skills and helping others.
From finger-painting a portrait to finger-clicking a mouse, I've never been limited by format boundaries. I am most often in my home studio painting, sculpting, or simply creating my feelings into something tangible. I colorfully and whimsically paint anything that will remain still long enough: canvas, walls, purses, clothing, furniture, palm fronds, and more. I love to bring life back to something that has lost it's purpose along the way. What better way to create art than to renew life to something discarded.
Stemming from my love of people, my favorite work has been mostly with characters portraying emotions, often being referred to as "humaniques". Art does imitate life, and it also works the other way as well. There are no two creations that are alike, each one unique within it's own rights, like people we all meet along the path of life... colorful characters, some sad, some happy, some funny, some serious, all creating their own way. That's the way I have lived my life, right or wrong, but never a beige Chevrolet by any means! Life is too short!
The world of art is a wide open space, and I'm here to add a little more color to it and hopefully bring a smile to someone's face now and then!
