Brownwood News – Local artist Gayle Ritchey was recently named as Artist of The Year by the Brownwood Art Association for her work in oil painting. Her work is currently on display at the Brownwood Art Association Gallery through the month of April.

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Ritchey, a self taught artist, says she paints primarily landscapes because “Growing up in the panhandle trees are special!” Ritchey also says “I just like the outside. It’s always interesting. I don’t really care to paint people or something that’s just sittin’ there like a vase.”

Awarded the honor during the Art Associations Spring Show, Ritchey says it was not something she expected to win.

“I really thought Fred (Spencer) would get it this year. We’ve got a lot of really good artists that lead the showcase.”

She credits an early gift as the beginning of her lifelong love affair with painting. “My aunt gave me a paint by numbers set, so I’ve been drawing or painting most of my life.”

Her first painting was done around the age of 6 years old and continued painting over the years of her life. 

“The first painting I did when my kids were little, nearly the whole painting was orange. After I was done for the day I thought I had the paints put up when I went to bed, but I woke up to an orange chair because my daughter had gotten into the paints!” Ritchey recalls a humorous moment from the first time she painted after her kids were born.

Ritchey primarily works in oil, because “It just seems to work better. I can normally make it do what I want it to, so it try to stick with that.”

She offers simple advice for aspiring painters.

“I just tell em to just try. You never know if you can do it or not till you give it a shot,” Richey said. “And enjoy it, it’s not a hard thing to do really, you just gotta try.”

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