What do you want to be when you grow up? For people who dreamed of being an artist, often those dreams gave way to jobs and families and real life. Several artists from Clinton Art Society say they are now living their dream, now that they are retired. Each artist is drawing and painting and finding fellowship with other artists. Some of them are sharing their work at various exhibitions including the one now on display at The Gallery Water’s Edge, 1525 Boston Post Road, Westbrook through Tuesday, July 31 and another at Body Karma Studio, 5 East Main Street, Clinton through Tuesday, July 31.

From Leftover Paint, a Love Affair

Linda Beagle, a long time resident of Madison, started painting after receiving a paint-by-number set when she was a child. After completing the kit, she used the leftover paint to make her own paintings, developing a love affair with drawing and painting. Eventually she went to Southern Connecticut State University to become an art education major. Finances prevented her from finishing college, and she left to raise and support her family. She continued to pursue her hobby and became an artist member of the Clinton and Madison art societies until going back to work full-time.

Now retired, she has time to paint the way she always dreamed. In addition to her membership in the Clinton, Madison, Lyme and Guilford art leagues, she leads painting groups with other seniors at the Estuary Council of Seniors who, like her, now have time now to express themselves.

Beagle’s works will be on display at the exhibition at The Gallery at Water’s Edge.

An Artistic Journey

For Madison resident Betsey Piner, oil painting began very early.

“At the age of eight, for Christmas, I was given a tackle box filled with tubes of oil paint in the most amazing colors, many sizes of brushes, turpentine, linseed oil, a paper palette, small metal cups for holding the turpentine and oil and some canvas boards,”she says. “My love of painting began.”

Although Piner studied art, privately when she was child and later at Ohio University, she did not consider making it her career.

“I loved painting,” she says. “I married and in the ensuing 10 years, had two lovely children and moved 11 times. There was no time for painting.”

She later enrolled in an evening course in scientific illustration.

“And I loved it! To create the detailed drawings, I had to understand a lot about drawing. I was chosen to illustrate for the members of the Smithsonian Department of Entomology. Now that I have retired, I have focused on pet portraits. And I am into a series of floral. Who knows where my artistic journey will lead?”

Piner’s works will on display at Body Karma Studio.

‘I Hope I Never Stop’

Barbara Zekala loved to draw.

“When I was very young, my father painted the bottom half of the kitchen wall brown and the top part yellow. The brown bottom was my wall where I could draw with chalk and have fun,” she says. “My mother encouraged reading books as well as appreciation of the illustrations. With gentle exposure, I developed a love of art.”

Eventually, art took a back seat to my teaching career. She attended New Haven State Teachers College, which, in her last year attending, became Southern Connecticut State University. She became a reading teacher in elementary and later, middle school. When she retired, she learned ink drawing at the Shoreline School of Art and Music and took oil painting classes at the Guilford Senior Center.

“Even in retirement, life can get in the way,” she says.

She was very sick this past year and wasn’t able to make art.

“Now that I am drawing again, I hope I never stop,” she says. “My favorite thing is to draw portraits of animals.”

Zekala’s works will be on display at Body Karma Studio.

‘A Spirit of Their Own’

Jane M. White of Southington started painting house portraits 40 years ago when a neighbor asked if she could paint a pen and ink portrait of their home. Later, after having to paint a dark brown house, White started painting all of the portraits in watercolors.

“They seem to have a spirit of their own,” she says.

Her early art education started at Endicott Jr. College and Miami University of Ohio. She majored in commercial art. She worked as a layout artist in the advertising department at The May Company in Cleveland, Ohio. She then married and her family took precedence. In the 1970s, she took local art classes, and later five years of classes at Lyme Academy in Old Lyme. Now she is an elected artist member at Clinton Art Society and Essex Art Association. She is also a member of Southington Arts & Crafts Association, Cheshire Art League, Gallery 53 in Meriden, and Connecticut Pastel Society. Each year, she exhibits her paintings in 20-plus shows throughout Connecticut. White’s personal website is www.JaneWhiteFineArt.com.

White’s works will be on display at Body Karma Studio.

Finding Their Way Back

Every artist who continues to paint has a story like these women.

“The dreams of childhood do come true if we keep them alive in our hearts,” says Liz Egan, president of Clinton Art Society, which was founded in 1949 by a small group of professional artists dedicated to the growth of arts along the Connecticut shoreline. “I love how the members of Clinton Art Society have found their way back to their art. They support and nurture each other through weekly painting groups, exhibitions, and local art critiques.”

She says art is a lifestyle and that being an artist is a calling for a lifetime.

For more information about Clinton Art Society and how to become a member, call Egan at 860-669-4487 or visit www.clintonartsociety.info.