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How She Found Her Happy
Written By: Donna Rhodes | Issue: 2016/11 - November
When Deb Hudson was a little girl and people asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up she’d say, “Everything!” She’s well on her way to doing just that.
As she embarked on her life’s journey she tried banking and retail clothing management.
After marrying, she hoped for kids. When they didn’t come, she went back to school to top off her English degree with a master’s and another degree in education, then taught college English.
Eventually she shifted to teaching high school. It was as if God said, “I can’t give you your baby but I can give you a whole roomful of babies.”
A few days in, she knew this was what she was supposed to do.
Having a love for drawing, it wasn’t long before her classroom walls were vibrating with murals illustrating “The Great Gatsby,” “The Old Man and the Sea,” and other classics. Her students couldn’t wait to see what magic awaited them each day. Oh, the places they did go.
But along the way her mother got deathly ill and everything screeched to a halt while she cared for her.
When she died, Hudson felt empty. She says, “I lost my happy.”
Not wanting to go back to teaching (too much bureaucracy,) she looked for other creative outlets. She started a book club. Meetings were themed right down to fashion and food of each book’s era. Donna Tartt’s “Goldfinch” re-connected Hudson to her happy. She painted a bird for
the meeting.
Then more birds. The images came easy, and the reception was overwhelming. It grew into a business. Now her fabulous birds and other animals decorate galleries and homes from Alabama to North Carolina
Meet her and her menagerie at Smitten’s Third Thursday, November 17, from 5:30 P.M. until. Smitten’s hours are Monday through Thursday, 11:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.; Friday and Saturday from 11:00 A.M. ‘til the cows come home and the fat lady sings; and on Sunday from 1:00 to 5:00 P.M. Smitten is located at 468 Main Street in downtown Highlands. Call (828) 526-9300 for more information or email [email protected].
To contact Deb, instagram@debrahud, or email [email protected].
