Every face has a story behind it. No matter how insignificant a place that person holds in society, behind that face lies a story. I’m a storyteller. I recycle discarded or cull material, mainly wood...flawed like the character whose likeness graces its surface. I use acrylic paints. Although most of my paintings are rather large (up to 60”x48”), some are as small as 10”x13”. I usually write a brief anecdote about the person or people in the painting, which is displayed next to the it. I’ve been told that the stories seem to really add to the appeal and draw the spectator to the painting. Curtis Southerland, curator at the Renaissance Art Center in Dickson, has observed this frequently when groups of all ages come to tour the Art Center. Some of my subjects are real people that I have met or known, some are not. They all have one thing in common for all of us, they represent someone that all of us have known at one time. Each time I exhibit, I am told how much a certain painting reminds someone of “Aunt Jane” or “Uncle Bob”. That almost always sparks a fond memory, which they are eager to share with me. My first children’s book will be out summer ’06. I love writing for children, and I go to elementary schools on reading days to share my stories with them. I also write southern nostalgia, which I read regularly in retirement homes on a volunteer basis. It’s so touching to see the faces of the elderly as my stories take them on a walk down memory lane. My story brings about an anecdote from their past that they’ve been yearning to tell anyone who was willing to listen. You’ll notice I paint a lot of senior citizens. I think senior citizens are simply beautiful, and all have so much they can give us through experience and wisdom. I never picked up a paint brush or wrote until I was in my mid forties. I am self-taught, and consider my art outsider art. I occasionally do some memory art. I have shown at The White Trash Café, Hair of the Dog, Fido, 12th and Porter, C.J.’s Off the Square in Franklin, and have maintained an ongoing exhibit at The Renaissance Center. I also have an ongoing exhibit at my late mother’s restaurant in my home town of Louisville, MS, where a lot of the locals are recognizing a marked familiarity. I’ll be showing at Portland Brew November 15 through January 15. Please visit my website at www.katrinaesteshill.com. Join me at www.myspace.com/mizippihippi.