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walls filled with her works, which she describes as “realistic.” They range from religious images to a commissioned work of a woman with two wolves to a railroad crossing sign. She is very well known for her depictions of historic buildings in the area, including a great many churches, as well as venues that no longer exist, like the downtown hotel and courthouse, or have been repurposed into thriving sites, such as the Hotel Marion building. She says the “scariest” piece she ever did was based on seeing an alligator snatch an anhinga out of the water, the bird’s feathers splayed out of the toothy maw of the reptile, which gave her nightmares for years. “I finally painted it and the nightmares went away,” she remarks. Her favorite subjects are people, she offers, sweeping her arm around the studio. One entire wall is devoted to portraits of family members including her beloved Bernard, mother, father and grandmother, whom she greatly favors in looks, as well as several others. “I like people,” Watts affirms. “At the state park, I get to meet people from all over the world.” These days, she primarily paints portraits and landscapes. In looking at one partially completed work, based on The Yearling, and set for the show in Ormond Beach, she remarks that she is not pleased. “It’s like cooking,” she elaborates. “If you don’t like this vegetable, you know you don’t like this vegetable.” With that, she grabs a palette knife and swaths a smear of color across the bottom, using her right hand to “dance” the paint around.
Watts paints with brushes and the palette knife. She has favorite colors, such as a purple background layer for landscapes, and brands of paint. Her beloved local art supply store closed, so now she orders online. She says her mail delivery man will often ask, “What are you painting today, Margaret?”
Teacher, Mentor, Friend
Diane Jones Pribisco has known Watts for years. She says they met in the 1970s and have painted together and attended shows during all that time. “I was one of her students initially, then it became more of a student/mentor relationship...then friends,” Pribisco notes. “If I really needed help, she was there to help me. If not, she was there to encourage me all through my progress in art.” Pribisco lived in Jacksonville for 28 years but now lives in Salt Springs. She and Watts are also colleagues through Artist-Alley. Pribisco praised many of Watts’ works. “She is the most talented artist I’ve ever known,” Pribisco says. “She really inspired me to seek out the world of pastoral settings, to take notice of the beauty around us every day. Now that we’re in Salt Springs, I see something every day that she would want to paint.”
To learn more about Watts, find her on the artist-alley.com website or call (352) 629-4674.
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