Drawn to art classes in a Toledo, Ohio all-girls Catholic high school, Lynda applied to three art schools. When she received three rejections she tossed her portfolio into a trash bin. “This was possibly the worst career decision I made along the way. I ended up with no record of my art work history,” recalls Lynda. Without her portfolio she started college in another direction – psychology and sociology.
Tempted away from boring college classes, Lynda frequented the Toledo Museum of Art and used her entrepreneurial spirit to start her art collection. “I asked that paintings be put on layaway for me. Whenever I paid something off I would take it home and display it wherever it suited.” Thus began a philosophy that has served her well through the years. She now occasionally uses installments to purchase some of the more valuable (and expensive) paintings for her burgeoning collection, and she allows new collectors to pay for her work over time – a win-win for everyone.
Only after she started collecting art did Lynda realize that she couldn’t put her own paints away. By the time she moved to Atlanta, Georgia, she had found a new creative venue for herself, painting on fabric, paper, and canvas.
A subscriber to the Atlanta Ballet, Lynda contributed a giant swath of painted silk for a fundraising auction. The prima ballerina was so caught up with the beauty of the fabric, that she wrapped it around herself and modeled it for the rest of the evening.
Shortly thereafter, Lynda traveled to Switzerland as one of the artists selected to represent Atlanta in an artist swap. There she exhibited her canvas paintings to an international audience.
In 1984, internationally acclaimed artist and writer, Paul Chelko, brought Lynda into his fold to market his art through special events. His art rep found out about Lynda’s work and ultimately introduced Lynda to her future husband, Steve Hill, a collector who was looking to add to his personal art collection. In January 1985, Lynda and Steve were married.
Thus began another adventure in creativity. Lynda’s and Steve’s home became the first of four homes in Ansley Park (Atlanta) that Lynda took on as a design challenge. Lynda loves to rebuild, renovate, design, and decorate.
“Whether painting my large-scale acrylics or taking charge of my home, I know there will be lots of beauty involved. These frenetic busy periods in my life require ‘going out of my mind’. As an artist I do what I do best. When I’m ‘out of my mind’ I am not thinking. I am just creating. When it’s all said and done, I feel have been in a zone of ‘mindfulness’.”
Well-traveled, Lynda has visited museums throughout Europe, in the Czech Republic, along the Mediterranean, and in Japan and Hong Kong, the origin of much of her unique jewelry collection.
“My art and my love of art is my heart and my soul.”