马特·莫纳卡，《桑福德先驱报.

桑福德——“从我记事起, 那些有空白页的书，我在上面画画, 我在画任何我能得到的东西, 但是我妈妈说, “好女孩不会成为艺术家.'"

Those are the words of Yvonne George recalling her youth and her love for the arts that were, 在某种意义上, 一直压抑到晚年.

“(我妈妈)很守旧，很固执，我成了一名护士. I was a registered nurse and got married shortly after graduation and had four kids and was a stay-at-home mom basically. 我试着定期回去喂奶, but me and my husband felt very strongly that raising the children was the most important thing, 但结果都很好，所以努力是值得的."

乔治现在在中央卡罗莱纳社区学院任教, offering several painting classes that are critically acclaimed by students. She has also been involved with the Brush and Palette Club in Sanford and was elected artist of the year in 2016. 虽然在桑福德，很多人都知道她擅长用刷子, her history in the arts started in a different medium after her move to Florida in 1972.

"We moved to Florida in '72 for a job change for my husband and I found out the following year that the community college was right down the road,乔治说. “我以为, 嗯, 所有的孩子都在上学, now is the time to do something for myself and I took four years of studio classes there. 我上了七次绘画课. 我什么都学，版画，雕塑，木工，什么都学."

乔治的艺术技巧在几种媒介中得到了发展, 但她的艺术造诣是从粘土开始的.

"In my third year I walked into the clay studio one day and I saw someone working on the wheel and was mesmerized and I had to learn how to do that, 所以接下来的30年我都在做粘土,她说. "I was in galleries across the country from California all the way to the East Coast. 我和室内设计师合作过，有些很有名. 我在费舍尔岛的商场里有一件作品. 那可能是佛罗里达的亮点. In Texas I got involved in the ceramic league there, so I was pretty much just doing clay. 当我们搬回佛罗里达州奥兰多附近的时候, I got involved with Arlington Builders and worked for them doing sinks, 瓷砖, 壁炉, 任何粘土."

Her intricate works are placed inside of several beautiful homes in Florida and she recalled one home selling for $2.300万，对她来说是个惊喜. 尽管她热爱这份工作, she realized she was getting too old for the labor-intensive art and lifting the 25-pound bags of clay around. Upon moving to Sanford she sold her clay equipment except for the kiln, 她用它来做珠宝, 这是她自学并擅长的另一门手艺.

“新的挑战让我更兴奋，”乔治说. “我做了30年，所以受够了. Now I'm enjoying the challenge of learning pastels to the point where I can teach them well. 我会一直这样做，直到我几乎不能再举起画笔." ...

Despite never planning to teach, George has enjoyed every minute of this new experience. 她的护理职业使她心胸开阔，易于交际. She makes friends easily with her lively spirit and creates a great atmosphere for those to thrive in their art.

“我对此充满热情. 有些人会说, 我不能画一条直线,我说, “任何人都可以成为艺术家, 艺术家有多优秀是另一回事.他说，其中一部分来自人才. 如果你想做艺术，你可以从艺术中学到很多东西. 有些人直到退休后才做. 这太蠢了，一辈子都这么做. 为什么不一辈子都做这件事呢?乔治说。.

乔治教各种技能水平的学生, those with no experience at all to retired teachers looking for time to paint.

"The first thing is to have fun and while they are having fun I teach them the basics. 这都是在个人层面上完成的，”她说. “我没有一个初学者班. I have a class of some that have never done anything before and some that have been with me for eight years, 所以我必须找到一个共同点. 每堂课我都会在每个人身边出现很多次. 我只是想让他们玩得开心. 我也教酒精墨水来帮助他们解脱. 第一节课我通常这么做. I say this is just color, play with it, put it on paper and pour it and see what happens. 有时他们会说, “我看到,’然后走进去, a cloud in there and they get in to it and it loosens them up so they aren't so intimidated by art."

George includes a show-and-tell at the end of the class that everyone has to participate in and they are only allowed to point out the positives of the work before they criticize or make suggestions.

George now paints regularly in every medium, including watercolor and alcohol inks. She is a part of the Pastel Society of North Carolina and has a piece that will appear in the show in Charlotte. 她依靠摄影来作画, taking photos of anything she finds interesting and welcomes photographer friends to send her photos that they think may be a good subject for her to paint. George is interested in painting any type of subject and has recently taken an interest in old rusted cars and has taken several photos of them in preparation to paint them.

"We all have a story and I look at these old jalopies rusting on the side of a field and think what is the story behind it. 谁拥有它，它做了什么，它把他们带到哪里去了? My mind isn't capable of keeping up with all the things I want to paint,乔治说。.

The arts and college community hold a deep appreciation for George and her dedication to the arts. She was an active participant in helping develop the art scene in Miami Beach, Fla.在它的关键时刻.

George was surprised how much energy the arts could create in a city and hopes Sanford will invest a little more into creating affordable spaces for local artists.

At the age of 98, George's mother was finally able to see why her daughter held this passion.

"I have to laugh because she didn't see much of my art until the year before she died,乔治说. "I was taking work to a gallery in Morehead City and I had about eight or nine paintings in the car. We were sitting around and I said, 'I went to the gallery and brought some paintings.' We started talking about that and I said, 'you have never seen any of my paintings have you?我说，“你想看看吗??'

"I brought her this big painting and she sat it up and looks up at me and says, 这太美了,于是我笑了. 我妈妈喜欢所有粉红色的东西，而我讨厌粉红色. I had this painting of a double iris, which was pink on a dark background. 她爱上了这个. She finally did get to see my artwork and she finally did understand and appreciate that, 是的, 也许那里有什么东西."