By Matt Monarca, The Sanford Herald.

SANFORD - "From the time I can remember, the books that have empty pages I was drawing on them, I was drawing on anything I could get my hands on, but my mother said, 'nice girls don't become artists.'"

这是伊冯·乔治回忆她的青春和她对艺术的热爱时所说的话, in a sense, repressed until her later years.

"(My mom) was very old school and adamant and I became a nurse. 我是一名注册护士，毕业后不久就结婚了，有四个孩子，基本上是个全职妈妈. I tried going back to nursing periodically, 但我和我丈夫都强烈地认为抚养孩子是最重要的事情, but they all turned out well so it was worth the effort."

George now teaches at Central Carolina Community College, 开设几门绘画课程，深受学生好评. 她还参与了桑福德的画笔和调色板俱乐部，并于2016年当选为年度艺术家. Although many in Sanford know her for her talents with a brush, 1972年搬到佛罗里达后，她的艺术生涯开始于一种不同的媒介.

这个人说:“1972年，因为我丈夫的工作变动，我们搬到了佛罗里达。第二年，我发现社区大学就在附近," George said. "I thought, hmm, all the kids are in school, 现在是时候为自己做点什么了，我在那里上了四年的工作室课. I took painting seven times. I took everything, printmaking, sculpture, woodworking, everything."

George's artistic skills thrived in several mediums, but her artistic mastery began in the medium of clay.

“在我大三的时候，有一天我走进陶土工作室，看到有人在做轮子，我被迷住了，我必须学会怎么做, so the next 30 years I did clay," she said. “我去过全国各地的画廊，从加州一直到东海岸. I worked with interior designers, some big names. I had one of my pieces in the Fisher Island malls. That was probably a highlight in Florida. 在德克萨斯州，我参加了陶艺联赛，所以我基本上只是做陶土. When we moved back to Florida near Orlando, 我加入了阿灵顿建筑公司，为他们做水槽, tiles, fireplaces, anything clay."

她错综复杂的作品被放置在佛罗里达州的几所漂亮的房子里，她回忆说有一所房子卖了2美元.3 million, a surprise to her. Although she loves the work, 她意识到自己年纪太大了，不适合从事这种劳动密集型的艺术工作，也不适合拎着25磅重的粘土袋四处走动. 搬到桑福德后，她卖掉了她的粘土设备，除了窑, which she uses to make jewelry, another craft she taught herself and excels in.

"I'm more excited by the newer challenges," George said. "I did that for 30 years so enough is enough. 现在我很享受学习彩色粉笔的挑战，我可以把它们教得很好. I will keep going until I can barely lift the brush anymore." ...

尽管乔治从未打算教书，但他享受着这段新经历的每一分钟. Her career in nursing allowed her to open up and easily socialize. 她以活泼的精神轻松地结交朋友，为那些在艺术中茁壮成长的人创造了良好的氛围.

"I have a passion for it. Some people will say, 'well I can't draw a straight line,' I say, 'anyone can be an artist, how good an artist is another story.' Some of that comes from talent. You can learn so much in art if you want to do art. Some people don't do it until they retire. That's stupid, do it your whole life. Why not do it your whole life?" said George.

George teaches students of all skill levels, 那些完全没有经验的人到退休教师找时间画画.

“第一件事就是玩得开心，当他们玩得开心的时候，我教他们基本的东西. It is all done on an individual level," she said. "I don't have a class of beginners. 我有一个班级，有些人以前从来没有做过任何事情，有些人已经和我在一起八年了, so I have to find a common ground. I'm around to each person many times during a class. I just try to get them to enjoy themselves. I also teach alcohol inks to help free them up. The first class I usually do that. 我说这只是颜色，玩它，把它放在纸上，倒，看看会发生什么. Sometimes they say, 'I see,' and go in there, 那里有一片云，他们进去了，云让他们放松了，所以他们不会被艺术吓倒."

乔治在课程结束时安排了一个每个人都必须参与的展示和讲述，他们只允许在批评或提出建议之前指出工作的积极方面.

乔治现在经常用各种媒介作画，包括水彩和酒精墨水. 她是北卡罗来纳州粉彩协会的一员，有一件作品将在夏洛特的展览上展出. She relies on photography for her paintings, 拍摄任何她觉得有趣的东西，并欢迎摄影师朋友发送他们认为可能是她绘画的好主题的照片. 乔治对任何题材的绘画都很感兴趣，最近他对生锈的旧车产生了兴趣，并拍了几张照片，准备画出来.

“我们都有一个故事，我看着这些在田野边生锈的老爷车，想着它背后的故事. Who had it, what did it do, where did it take them? 我的脑子跟不上我想画的所有东西，”乔治说.

艺术和大学社区对乔治和她对艺术的奉献深表赞赏. 她是佛罗里达州迈阿密海滩艺术发展的积极参与者., during its pivotal moments.

乔治很惊讶艺术能在一个城市创造这么多的能量，他希望桑福德能多投资一点，为当地艺术家创造负担得起的空间.

在98岁的时候，乔治的母亲终于明白了为什么她的女儿有这种激情.

乔治说:“我不得不笑，因为直到她去世的前一年，她才看到我的作品。. “我带着作品去莫尔黑德市的一家画廊，车里有八九幅画. 我们围坐在一起，我说，‘我去了画廊，带了几幅画.“我们开始谈论这件事，我说，‘你从来没有看过我的画，对吧?' I said, 'would you like to see some?'

“我给她带来了一幅很大的画，她把画坐起来，抬头看着我说, 'this is beautiful,' so I had a laugh. My mother loved everything pink and I hate pink. 我有一幅双虹膜的画，在黑暗的背景上是粉红色的. She fell in love with that. 她终于看到了我的作品，她终于理解并欣赏了我的作品, yeah, maybe there is something there."