Till the Cows Come Home

GALLATIN, TN, September 1, 2021:  The Friends of the Gallatin Public Library are pleased to present ?Till the Cows Come Home? featuring the art of local artist Peggy Flynn at the library during the month of September. An artist?s reception will be held on Saturday, September 25th from 11:00 to 1:00, and the public is invited to attend.

 

Peggy Flynn never thought she could be an artist although she admired the work of others. A long time Gallatin resident, she attended Gallatin High at a time when no art classes were offered. She graduated from Middle Tennessee State University, taking only a single art history class, and taught elementary and middle school in Sumner County. She retired in 2005 after teaching computer science at Gallatin and Shafer Middle School for 15 years. 

 

Shortly after her retirement, Peggy ran across a beautiful old painting of holstein cows under a tree in an antique shop in Lexington, KY. When she showed her husband, Frank, the $1400 price tag, he said, ?You?d better learn to paint. We have plenty of cattle you can use for subject matter.? Little did he know that statement would cost him much more than the price of that painting in canvas, paint and art lessons!

 

Peggy had always wanted to paint but thought that an artist must have talent. ?On the contrary,? she now says,  ?anyone can learn to paint. It?s a matter of learning brush techniques and how to mix paint and training the eye to see light and shadows.?

 

Peggy first studied with Jennifer Simpkins and later with Charles Brindley, both excellent artists and encouraging teachers. She is a member of the Bugg Hollow Plein Air Painters, a group of artists who paint weekly at various locations around middle Tennessee. ?Painting is a wonderful way to loose your worries. You can focus your mind on the canvas and think of nothing else for a couple of hours,? she says, ?and there is so much beauty to paint right here in Sumner County. We?ve painted in the garden at Cragfont and on the Gallatin square and the shores of Old Hickory lake.?  

 

Her art on display at the library includes paintings of old barns and rural landscapes as well as cattle. Many of her small paintings were done ?en plein air? throughout Sumner County. Several paintings are available for purchase with 20% of the proceeds going to the Friends of the Library to support their projects to better the Gallatin Public Library.