Prettier Than a Picture: Late Bloomer Painter Captures Essence of Rural Life

Over the holidays, in between our family binges, we did our best to explore.

Thanks to a very lovely woman who admitted she had nothing better to do, we got into an art gallery — the Brown County Artists Guild — in downtown Nashville, Ind., just after closing.

There we had the pleasure of learning about Hattie Stanton, a latecomer to the art world, but accomplished nonetheless.

Indeed, this 70-year-old grandmother paints dreamy picturesque settings…earthy oils draw the eye along dirt roads and paths that wind through fall woods and past bales of hay or old farm buildings.

Thankfully, she has a studio in Muncie, closer to our regular stomping grounds. So hopefully we’ll get a chance to see more of her work soon.

In her art bio, there are quirky details about her life and interests. She’s clearly got the resources of a farmgirl.

She once made a stunning room divider, constructed of rescued from a building about to be demolished in Muncie.

She passes on this excellent advice from her parents: “Your hands can do whatever your brain is capable of telling them.”