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Arts & Entertainment

Artist Has a Love of Painting, Teaching

St. Peters-area artist enjoys sharing her gift of painting through her artwork and instructing others.

Decorative artist Judy Dodson enjoys working in a multiple mediums, but got her start as a painter. In fact, Dodson said she has two passions: painting and teaching. The artist divides her time between her two talents.

The painter has taught for 25 years. During that time she has instructed others both privately in her home as well as teaching area Girl Scout leaders how to create fun art projects. The leaders then in turn teach their troops the skill.

“In many cases they haven’t even held a paint brush,” she said of her pupils.

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Dodson said she loves instructing the troop leaders, partly because she knows the majority of her students are novices in the area of art.

“I truly believe what I enjoy the most is teaching people that they don’t have to be born with the ability to create art,” she said.

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Even though she has more than three decades of experience, the visual artist has had no formal training. She discovered her ability while attending a class to make a Dip and Drape doll. Dodson said she started painting in 1973, and began teaching shortly after that.

“I do feel in a way it’s a gift,” she said of her talents.

The artist started painting on her own within a few months of learning the skill and began booking her first classes shortly after. At her high point, Dodson said she taught about 100 students a week. Dodson attributes her early success to going to a craft fair and advertising that she could teach painting.

Discovering her natural-born flair for painting helped Dodson to remain out of the traditional workforce while she raised her children. Dodson said she worked out of her home for five years, but took a full-time job when all of her children entered school.

“At first, I did it to be a stay-at-home mom,” Dodson said of teaching out of her home.

In addition to teaching and being involved with the Girl Scouts, Dodson is also a member of the national organization Society of Decorative Painters.

The artist works in a variety of mediums, from pencils to watercolor. The painter said she started out working in oils, then went into watercolor and eventually tried her hand at acrylics.

“I can’t tell a favorite, I love colored pencil, for convenience,” she said of the medium.

Dodson has also branched out to enamels in the past few years. The painter said she has been painting decorative designs on perfume bottles at local department stores during holidays and in-store events.

For more information about artist Judy Dodson or her work, contact her at 636-936-0384.

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