Should Art be a Part of Your Next Phase?

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4 mins

Marita in front of her art — Marita and her art

When I finish a remodeling project, I often do a custom painting—done just for the new space. People often ask me if I have always painted. No. I didn’t start until 2018 when my mother moved in with me and caring for her became my job—though she didn’t need me by her side 24/7, she did need enough attention that I couldn’t be gone from the house all day. For the first time in my life, I woke-up and didn’t have to go to work. I asked myself what I’d like to do today. I had seen a painting in a furniture store that I liked for what was now my mother’s space—but it was far more than I was willing to pay. I decided I wanted to paint something for that room (I’d had some art classes in my young life, and the teacher told my mother she was wasting her money). I saw a full set of acrylic paints, canvases, and brushes listed on Facebook Marketplace. Even though they were in Hobbs, NM, I drove two hours to get them. The rest, as they say, is history. Utilizing my interior design education, I am now known for my décor-specific, large-scale, contemporary pieces.

Marita with the largest painting she’s every done

Painting Forest Bathing in its space — Marita with the largest painting she’s every done

So, other than a few classes in my childhood, I hadn’t painted anything, other than walls, in my life. But at 60, I picked it up. I have pieces in homes from coast-to-coast.

I now have other artist friends who are also in my age range. I reached out to them to see how they got started and when.

Tutti Burkett

Tutti had a bit more art experience than I did. She took oil painting lessons in high school and continued painting with oils and doing some art with chalk through college. Then, as is often the case, life got in the way. Tutti concentrated on her career working as a medical device rep for deep brain stimulators. While Tutti and her husband often frequented art galleries when they traveled, her interest in doing art stayed dormant. About one year before she retired, Tutti started thinking about what she wanted to do in her next phase of life. In an art gallery, she saw a painting that was done with resin. It was very different from anything she’d ever seen. Tutti investigated resin art. She has taken classes in Dallas, San Antonio, Santa Fe, and California. Once she retired (though she still does some consulting), Tutti started creating her own resin art. Using her imagination, she mixes different mediums into her resin and uses a blowtorch to move the colors. Tutti shows/sells her art, which she calls Glitzy Ice, through 8-10 art shows a year. She experiments using different materials and is now doing wine tumblers and bowls. Her advice to anyone facing retirement is to “find your passion and do what makes you happy.” When she was painting with oils, she did what she thought other people wanted. Now, Tutti is doing what makes her happy.

Kathryn Thomas

Love in a Bloom — Kathryn Thomas at TTU Museum Exhibit Sale

Like Tutti, Kathryn spent 30 years in healthcare. Other than decorating lockers in high school and doing a bit of sketching, the only art in her life was going to museums and art galleries. Once she retired, she started looking for something to fill her time. She says she “was a blank slate” but thought “I want to do art.” Kathryn once took a freehand drawing class at Texas Tech University and that inspired her to begin sketching and now painting as well. She has learned from others by taking classes and participating in the demonstrations offered by the West Texas Watercolor Society (WTWS). She served as chair of the Exhibit committee for WTWS, and later served as President for 2 years. She is still active with the Society and enters all their shows. Kathryn now does watercolor, gouache, acrylic, and pastels. Some years she does 6 paintings, and others 26. Her record for one year is 46. She paints when she wants to and can go weeks without painting. Though Kathryn considers herself a “hobbyist,” meaning she hopes her art income covers her expenses, she has done a solo show at the Buddy Holly Center and at the Broadway Contemporary Fine Art Gallery. She also sells prints, cards, notebooks, and coasters featuring her original works. Her most recent endeavor is painting wine bottles.

Martha Hunnicutt

Martha’s story is different as she has been painting for decades—starting with a set of oil paints she received at age 14 as a gift from her big sister. Her sister saw that she was creative and told Martha to “go do what you were born to do.” Despite that challenge, like many of us, Martha’s life took many twists and turns that didn’t include art. She became a licensed cosmetologist at 17, holds a business degree, and worked in sales and management at Dillard’s. She calls herself a “survivor” following domestic violence in her first marriage. Martha also owned New Image Hair Design Institute in Lubbock. Her daughter had a near-death experience that resulted in a seizure disorder. Through it all, Art was Martha’s salvation as it helped get the stress and emotions out. She participates in three West Texas Watercolor Society shows a year and typically does 2 national, juried shows—including Lubbock’s esteemed Art on the Llano Estacado show held each year at the Texas Tech Museum. Martha is represented by the Broadway Contemporary Fine Art Gallery. She works primarily in acrylics. Though she doesn’t have an art education, Martha loves to teach painting. While her students range from 18-82, more than 50% are seniors. Some painted when they were younger, and she gets them to pick up a brush again. Others have never painted. At each of her classes, students leave with a finished painting—often surprised at what they accomplished. She teaches her Paint with Passion classes once a month in Lubbock at the Garden and Arts Center. Each class has a different theme from land/seascapes, still life, architecture, sky/sunset, and animals. She guides folks on the basics and encourages “coloring outside the lines.” Martha wants people to enjoy the process and believes that “there are no mistakes, only opportunities.” She gets great joy from seeing the success of her students.

Martha with a class sharing their finished paintings

What about you? Have you been thinking about art but feared you were too old? I hope these stories motivate you to pick up a brush (or a blowtorch), to take a class, and explore your creative side. What are you going to do for your next phase?