By Keith Gamboa
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
Vivian Beeler at Henry Ford Village in Dearborn, Michigan
In 1988, homemaker Vivian Beeler felt she needed a challenge. “I was getting a little bored and restless,” she says, “and decided to take some art classes.”
Today, Beeler paints in watercolors and conducts a class in watercolor painting at Henry Ford Village. “It’s just a small class with about two to eight people attending,” she says. “It’s a fun class, and it’s therapy for all of us. I’ve taught watercolor for about five years now.” Vivian began sharing her talents when two community staff members “gently pushed me into starting the class,” she says.
What kind of artist is she:
“I call myself a hobby artist. I make my own Christmas cards with snowmen, Santa Claus, poinsettias, scenery.”
What else does she paint:
“I do a lot of flowers, because they’re so cheerful and bright. I have painted animals—one of my family member’s has a bloodhound that came out well.
“I make a lot of cards during the year, like ‘thinking of you cards.’ I paint a picture and take it to a copy shop before it’s matted and framed and have them reduce the images, so I can paste them on to my own blank cards.”
What happens to her paintings:
“I always have a picture hanging outside my door. And at Henry Ford Village’s annual expo in May and art fair in August—I always have exhibits there.
“And, of course, I give them to family. When I visit different family members’ homes and see my paintings hanging on their walls—it’s kind of fun!”