Columbus artist, Maudie Huff, enjoys painting private and public gardens, landscapes and still lifes in an impressionist style. Her love of painting and gardening was influenced by her mother, Julia O. Martin a noted Georgia landscape designer.

By R. CALIGARIS

After marrying Bill Huff in 1987 and moving to Columbus, Maudie's love for painting and gardening got a jump start as Bill assured her that he would take care of the inside of their home and she could take care of the outside. Bill also suggested that she take an art class from Marge Tilley - which she did. That good advice rejuvenated her love for painting and started her lifelong pursuit of her passions of painting and gardening.

Do you remember your first encounter with art? What made you want to be an artist? My first encounter with art, that I can remember, was on the square in Roswell, GA, when I was about 10 years old. I still have the small painting of a little boy on a hill flying a kite that my mother let me buy and I love it to this day. My mother, Julia Martin, a noted landscape designer, influenced me with her love of gardening, nature and the great outdoors. My first paintings were of gardens which echoed my mother’s love of gardening- my second passion after painting. I enjoy gardening in my home in Columbus as well as in my home in Highlands, NC. My Columbus garden has been on several garden tours including Historic Gardens of Georgia.

You were born and raised in Georgia, how has this influenced you as an artist? I feel that the deep history of artists in Columbus to include Mary Passalaigue, Gerry Bosch, Henry Nordhausen and Bruno Zupan, just to name a few have been very influential in my career as an artist. Bruno Zupan invited me one time to watch him paint in the beautiful spring garden of Mrs. Virginia Illges. I was delighted. That was such an incredible experience and a real treat for me.

Where did you go to school and how do you feel that experience helped you develop as an artist? I was born in Atlanta and attended The Lovett School. After spending my junior year in Italy studying art and Italian, I graduated with a BA in Art History from Mary Baldwin College. During my senior year there, I took a required studio art class and unexpectedly loved it. As a result, I often wondered why I had not majored in Art instead of Art History.

What is your preferred medium to paint in? I have taken several art courses at the Bascom Art Center in Highlands, NC, the Wooden Boat school in Brooklin, Maine, and in several other locations. I enjoyed a class taught by Wolf Kahn in Maine that I took with several other Columbus artists. Oil is my medium of choice - the more paint the better. My friends affectionately call me "Messy Maudie" as paint seems to get on everything! Lately, I’m enjoying exploring the techniques of the pallet knife and creating different forms of abstracts. I love to create larger landscape abstracts and very colorful abstracts of any size.

Where can people find your work? In Columbus, some of my works are on display at the new Highland Gallerie on Second Avenue, as well as Park Place Interiors in the St. Elmo Shopping Center. The Full House Gallery represents my paintings in Highlands, NC. Over the years I have donated many of my paintings to charitable endeavors and fundraisers. I have also participated in several small art shows in Georgia, and both North and South Carolina. SVM