About the Author

Watercolor artist Mary Whyte is a teacher and author whose figurative paintings have earned national recognition. A resident of Johns Island, South Carolina, Whyte garners much of her inspiration from the Gullah descendents of coastal Carolina slaves who number among her most prominent subjects. Her portraits are included in numerous corporate, private, and university collections, as well as in the permanent collections of South Carolina's Greenville County Museum of Art and the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston. Her paintings have been featured in International Artist, Artist, American Artist, Watercolor, and American Art Collector, L'Art de Aquarelle, and numerous other publications. Whyte is the author of Alfreda's World, a compilation of her Gullah paintings, as well as An Artist's Way of Seeing and Watercolor for the Serious Beginner. Her work can be found at Coleman Fine Art in Charleston.

Reviews

Mary Whyte is a magnificent artist who has mastered watercolor--one of the most difficult of all painting mediums. Here, she shows us phenomenal skill in portraying rural southern life with an empathy that celebrates the spirit of her subjects, their great passion for their work, and their resilience in facing life's hurdles. Her written narratives which accompany these images are as delightful, tender, and moving as the art itself. Jonathan Green, southern artist

Something precious and disappearing that is honored by art has increased chances of being preserved--and honored anew. Mary Whyte's magical and elegant paintings and sketches do battle with that great modern two-faced robber: technology. Clyde Edgerton, southern author and artist

Whyte shares incredibly moving portraits of southerners who work on the edge--invisible to mainstream America. Through her paintings, sketches, and text, she captures workers like an oyster shucker in Urbanna, Virginia; a boatbuilder in Bayou la Batre, Alabama; and an elevator operator in Jackson, Mississippi. She celebrates and honors their lives in this truly memorable volume. William R. Ferris, Center for the Study of the American South, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill