An Afternoon with Terri

by Marie & Bruce

TERRI THRASHER a gal you should know! A mostly self taught artist who works primarily in acrylics. Recently Terri joined The Art Guild of Mountain View, and this week attended a 2 day watercolor class in Fairfield Bay.

Terri was born in Canton, Mississippi. Married young. Moved to Scotland where her husband (also a Mississippian) was based.There, she learned to pilot a glider and received her license. Next there was a stint in D.C. and finally on to one of the islands in the Aleutian chain off Alaska, before discovering Mountain View, Ar. This gal has gotten around!

As a very young girl she was enthralled by Paint by Numbers (weren’t we all?) Then as a young adult she found herself sketching continuously, but was unable to find any adult classes. Fast forward to 2016 when Terri dipped her brush into acrylics. It was love.

Terri is extremely knowledgeable about historical and current artists. She loves reading about artists, their lives and techniques. Also has become a YouTube fan to study the arts.

Terri’s style, as she describes it, is “loose”. And over the years her technical savvy has improved. Yet like many artists she feels that some of those loose work are “trainwrecks”. (We disagree.....we are enthralled with the paintings we saw).

A morning person, Terri likes nothing better than to take her inspiration from her yard, flowers, mostly. She is stumped by the fact that she cannot seem to get a daisy or zinnia just right to her eye. Something about the way the daisy petals twist have given her fits.

She has a wonderful geranium painting that falls into her trainwreck category....but everyone who sees it loves it. Ah, the tortured artist! Yet Terri continues to embrace that loose style which fits her bold personality and creative bent.

Like so many artists Terri is prone to having a “Creative Block”. What does she do? She waits it out. Suddenly she becomes inspired again.

She laughed over the fact that artists should paint what they love and not what people request. Her example: “I paint an alpaca and sell it to that one in a million person who loves alpacas; then because that sold I decide to paint 40 more alpacas. Alpacas sleeping, alpacas chewing, alpacas giving the evil eye. You can bet that no one, ever, will buy another one of those alpaca paintings.”

Terri is absolutely thrilled to be participating in the 23rd year of OFF THE BEATEN PATH - that wonderful weekend in September which is a self guided tour of artist’s studios in and around the Mountain View area.

This year it will be held on September 15, 16, 17. In late August pick up a free copy of the map to artists locations at The Batesville Chamber or Commerce, The Batesville Area Gallery on Main, The Mountain Home Library, Calico Rock Heritage and Visitors Center, The Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, The Arkansas Craft School, The Arkansas Craft Gallery and The Ozark Folk Center.

Be sure to check Terri out - you will love her flower paintings. Check out more pics on the back cover….

In sum, the events in Terri’s life have definitely channeled themselves into her art psyche. She marches to her own inner artist and lives by the mantra “NO ALPACAS”.