By Betty Oehler
FEATURING: MAVIS AKIYOSHI
Mavis is another crafter whose interest and skill showed
up later in life. When her husband, Ernest, retired, he
began pursuing a long-held desire to paint with oils, and he
encouraged Mavis to join him. She wasn't interested in oils,
however, but she decided to try her hand with watercolors.
Shortly, a natural skill emerged and she became hooked, and
it wasn't long before she had taken a watercolor class and
was showing her paintings along with Ernest's at the Spanish
Village Art Center in Balboa Park, which is San Diego's premier
artist collective.
In 2002 they moved to The Colony, and they were both
exhibitors at our Craft Fairs. Her interest in painting took a
hiatus when she became widowed, but after a time, she picked
it up again in creative new formats: greeting cards, sweatshirts
– and in a few more years, in what has remained a passion,
decorative painting on caps and birdhouses. Spending the
necessary time on the fine detail involved suits her ambition
and pleasure just right, and though she already has a tableful
of caps ready for the next Craft Fair, she's aiming to add to the
selection. I can say when I left chatting with her, there were
two new empty spots to fill on her table – from caps I couldn't
resist buying.
| THE COLONY NEWS | MAY 2021 | 27
CLUB NEWS
Craer's Corner
