Living by the brush: Cleda Curtis is an accomplished artist, teacher and author

Cleda Curtis is a devoted artist who enjoys teaching the basic principles of painting as well as the elements of design to others. She owns and operates the Cleda Curtis Art School in Oran, Missouri.

"I've been teaching art there for 28 years," she says.

She offers classes at the school from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Thursday.

"Some [students] come every week and some will come for a while, then drop off and come back after a period of time," she says. "I've had some students come for as long as 15 years."

Although class sizes vary, Curtis says she usually averages about eight to 10 students per class.

While her specialties are painting portraits, florals and still life, she enjoys all types of art.

"I love all art," she says. "From abstract to realism, it's all part of it."

Curtis obtained a bachelor's degree in art from the University of the Ozarks in Clarksville, Arkansas. She then did some post-graduate study at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon.

She has also taught art workshops all over the country.

"I usually teach three-day workshops when I do them," she says.

In addition to creating art and teaching classes, Curtis penned a book in 1988 called "Portrait Painting Simplified."

"My book sold in all 50 states and in 16 foreign countries," she says.

Curtis has been showing her artwork since the early 1970s and still does art shows from time to time. She has also done commissioned portrait work for the last 40 years.

"I was commissioned to paint a portrait of Bill Emerson that now hangs in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.," she says.

Curtis was born in Clarksville, Arkansas, but has lived in Oran since she was 12 years old. She also spent 20 years living and traveling throughout the United States, Canada, Africa and the Middle East, completing many commissioned portraits along the way. Now widowed, she was married to Frederick Neal for 24 years.

"Art is my passion," she says. "I have always painted, done commissioned portraits and taught. I have always lived by the brush."

Curtis is also an avid bicyclist, president of the Oran Alumni Association and chair of the administrative board of Trinity United Methodist Church in Oran.

Her best advice to budding artists is to learn the trade.

"Learn the rules. It's like playing the piano. You wouldn't expect to sit down at a piano and be able to just start playing music," she says. "Just like music has rules, art has rules. Learn the basics and then practice, practice, practice."