Anderson Artists Guild member Louise Bisso runs an art gallery and frame shop—ElsieBee Originals—in downtown Hartwell, Georgia. Though she’s been there for 27 years, it’s not what she ever imagined for her life. Born in Florence, South Carolina, she moved around with her family to Dillon and Denmark as well as to Savannah, Georgia. She attended the University of Miami, where she majored in English. “One day in the sixties, my father was watching football,” she said. “Miami wa

Curiosity—it’s what Anderson Artists Guild member Wendy Rogers loved about her students. It’s also what drives her as an artist. Born in Shaker Heights, Ohio, Rogers graduated from Ashland University with degrees in elementary education, early education, and special education. She taught both regular and special education for 20 years and also helped guide entry-level teachers. Her students’ curiosity inspired her to incorporate lots of fun activities, such as acting out a so

Anderson Artists Guild member Mary Anne Porter was always drawing as a kid, and her parents were proud. “They thought I was really great,” she said. “They kept everything.” One of the drawings she remembers best captured the backyard burial of her neighbors’ big Newfoundland dog. In high school, Porter majored in art, but after graduating, she said, “I got married instead of going to college like I should have.” She and her husband ran their own electronic subcontracting busi

When life gets tough, Anderson Artists Guild member Carol Spencer deals with it. Cancer, divorce, job loss, the deaths of her father and twin sister—she’s handled it all with the same determination to move forward. She and her second husband, an electrical engineer, have moved several times for his job, including stops in Tennessee and Charleston before they settled in Anderson two years ago. In Tennessee, Spencer worked as a medical biller, a job she loved, but the job marke