Roe sees beauty in life and nature
Artists see. People look. Wanda Roe, artist
Pointing to a pen and ink drawing of a statue composed of lines made by words, Wanda Roe said “I think I came out of the womb loving artistic things,” Wanda Roe said “It’s never won a prize, but it’s the best thing I’ve ever done.”
“We may stumble we may fall, we may lose our head, but we always get up and finish the race,” Roe said, referencing her favorite art — a headless statue composed of words. The piece describes life — ups and downs and perservering.
Much of her art pieces have won prizes and blue, red and yellow ribbons hang near the art gallery wall in her home.
She has taught art for many years and still enjoys teaching from her studio at home.
Roe credits both her parents with passing on a love of beauty and art. She said her mother was a wonderful seamstress and quilted.
“I had the prettiest clothes of any girls in town and Mother made them all,” she said. “I would tell her what I wanted and she would make it, with or without a pattern.”
And her father, he was an actor and a singer.
“All my family was musical,” she said. “Mother had a good business head. She would help Dad with everything he did.”
Roe said her father had a movie theater and exchange. “He bought, sold and rented movies throughout the area and had a little theater in Norfork.”
Roe had a brother and she said there were no girls living on her street so she played with
the boys. “I climbed trees, too. I played with paper dolls — drew them. But, I didn’t like Mary Jane dolls so I had glamour dolls. All my life I’ve been drawn to things that were pretty.”
“My son gave me the ultimate compliment,” she reminisced, explaining that when hospice people were visiting him, he told them he never saw his mother and daddy have but one argument.
“We did get along and we did agree on things,” she said, recalling one argument that happened when the family was visiting New York City. “We argued over whether to go to Broadway or Coney Island…. we went to Coney Island.
“My mother in law said one time that if she ever had to live with a family, it would be us, because we were such a happy family. I treasure that.”
Mrs. Roe said she gave her father’s typewriter to the Pea Ridge Library and gave art club items to the Pea Ridge Historical Society.
Now, at 98, she doesn’t show art as often as she used to. She does still belong to several art clubs including a pastel group at an artists’ retreat in Bella Vista. She said they’ve shown in Van Buren and Fort Smith.
“When we were in Poor Richards, that was really good business,” she said.
She’s a member of the Ozark Pastel Society, the Rogers Art Guild, the Village Art Club and Artists of North Arkansas (in Fayetteville).
“My son said landscapes were my best.
“I wish I were better at portraits, that’s one of my best,” she said pointing at one. She said she likes to experiment with any new ideas that she hears about and had recently “learned to felt.”
She said art aficionados have gone through various stages including a period of pop art, then photo realism and now back to a looser type painting.
“Right now, we’re seeing a lot of pattern things — patterns on top of things,” she said.
Editor’s note: This is the second of a two-part article that was begun last week, Aug. 28.