Whimsical, Colorful, Painted Chair
by Artist, Cynthia Walker

Bio: Moved to Morton in 1967 from Southern Indiana when I was going into the 3rd grade.  Had a pretty good southern accent and remember that I flunked phonics that first year in Morton, because the teacher said I couldn’t talk correctly! Graduated from Morton High School and moved out of state to attend college and landed my first job out of state.  That was how it was going to be…but married a guy from Indiana that I had met in college and he took a job with Caterpillar and we landed back in Morton in 1982. 

Raised three boys and did various “careers” from teaching and subbing in various school districts in the area, to director for Pampered Chef, to owning a top scrapbook & stamping store, to working at Caterpillar, where I just recently retired in May.

Background: I always was creative and enjoyed working with my hands.  I looked at creating as a stress reliever and would often when the kids were little, work on projects until the wee hours of the morning.  Even in grade school, I remember loving to make things and give them away to family members.  I took a college art course to complete my degree remotely before the days of personal computers.  I had accepted a job in Georgia, but discovered I still needed a few hours to get that BS degree in business.  I absolutely loved it and since that time have had to have creative projects to keep my sanity in this crazy world.  I have worked on macramé (as a kid), all types of hand needle craft and design, painting, and paper crafting.  My love is painting but have never really done much on canvas.  I have done folk art to abstracts.  My mediums are wood, resins, and textiles using acrylics and watercolor.  I also love to garden and just recently designed and planted two large areas in our backyard.  So I am glad I am retired, so I get to spend large amounts of time creating!

Inspiration: The chair inspiration came while surfing the web.  I had told Scott, that I would like to be included in the Chair-ity Auction event but had no ideas floating in my brain.  Scott told me to find a chair in my attic, antique store, or garage sale….I was searching for something unique and made of wood. But everything was so “normal & plain”.  I saw a chair on Varage Sale and wondered if I could make that work.  I had severe doubts but fell in love with the uniqueness of the chair and really wanted to try my idea.  The chair sat in my living room for many weeks untouched.  I would sit in it, but frankly, it intimidated me!  Then one day, I took the leap and this is my creation.  It took a lot of time to get to a point where I saw it all come together.  Hope you like it as much as I do.