Peyton Carmichael

My Art

I fell in love with amaryllises at some point and they are my mainstay. I love everything about them – and I can paint them in their actual size, which I love. I have been featured in several magazines, and big national shows such as the Jacob Javits Center in New York and the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

My Beginnings

Peyton was born in Greenville, Alabama . I come from a long line of Alabamians – both of my great-grandfathers fought in the Civil War and survived. The Hamilton one was a surgeon in the war and he then moved to Greenville from Wilcox County because, as he said, the train came through Greenville and it was thought that it would grow.

My career as an artist started when my first grade teacher, Miss Edna Earl Porterfield, recognized that I was able to draw likenesses of the other children in the class. From there it went to Miss Genevieve Poole. She had a regular class of teenagers that met at her Victorian home out from town on highway 10, going towards Luverne. We mainly painted camellias because that’s what Miss Genny was good at. I have always loved to paint flowers because that way I could use all the colors in my paint box. I mean, what else comes in all shades of purple??

About My Studios

Cobb Lane

I have had many studios, following my somewhat nomadic lifestyle. I have loved each one of them, but especially my scary studio in the old Cobb Lane building where I was ensconced on the third floor. I painted there for many years until one morning I unlocked the door and went in and a huge rat came our from under my work table to greet me.

Downtown Birmingham

I had a studio after that over a bar in the heart of the city but it was even scarier than the last one. The best place to paint is in your own house where you can work all night if you want to. Right now I can see my easel from any vantage point in this apartment. I’m thinking I will move one of my easels into the kitchen and use the dining table to hold my brushes.