In Retirement, Baylis Maxwell Dabbles in Watercolors

Anderson native Baylis Maxwell played football in high school and on scholarship at a junior college for a year before leaving the sport behind to complete a business degree at The Citadel, where his brother was also enrolled.

After graduating, he entered the Army for two years, followed by two years in the reserves. While stationed in Norfolk, Virginia, he worked in air defense to protect the Navy. “It was a good experience,” he said.

After his discharge, he worked in commercial industrial sales for Owens Corning in the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. area. He spent three years there, calling on architects and engineers to sell them on putting his product into building specifications. He then started a building company with friends in Pennsylvania before returning home.

In Anderson, he ran a building company before going into business with Theresa Nation. “I built houses; she listed and sold them,” he said. He also created a development company to create subdivisions, usually at the upper end of the market. “I like moving dirt,” he said.

When he retired about five years ago, he began to dabble in watercolors, taking classes from fellow Anderson Artists Guild members Ruth Hopkins and JoAnne Anderson. He paints about four days a week for a few hours each day. “I’m not serious about it,” he said. “I just do it for fun.”

He enjoys doing portraits and coastal scenes. “I just paint something that’s interesting,” he said. “If it doesn’t turn out, I put it in the didn’t-turn-out pile. Unfortunately, that’s my largest pile.”