Audrey Rose Is a Watercolor Beginner

New Anderson Artists Guild member Audrey Rose was a musical child, playing the piano and organ and composing music.

After high school, she left her hometown of Orangeburg to earn a bachelor’s degree in religious studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, then found a job in a bookstore. She later earned three more master’s degrees: in human resource development from Clemson University, in church music from Trinity Lutheran Seminary, and in math education from Converse College.

She worked as a church organist and choir director before deciding to change direction. She returned to Orangeburg in 2013 to help her mother through the last few years of her life and to start what would become eight years of teaching middle and high school math. “I enjoyed working with children and helping people learn,” she said. But she found the public school environment a real challenge.

She came to Anderson to assist her brother’s widow, who lives with her young children in Pendleton.

While she expects to go back to work eventually, she is currently focused on developing her watercolor skills. After watching lots of YouTube videos, taking a class last year in Columbia, and experimenting on her own, she decided to pursue a visual arts certificate at Greenville Tech’s Greer campus. “I need to learn some basic skills,” she said.

She is drawn to watercolor for its vibrant colors and for what it demands of her. “I like that I get lost and absorbed in creating art,” she said. “It’s nice to be in that place.”