The Early Years
(Savannah GA) Coloring inside the lines in coloring books; completing pictures on the "Winky Dink & You" magic TV drawing screen on Saturday mornings; creating paper-doll outfits for Betsy McCall and drawing evening-gown designs for the Katy Keene comic-book character; attending drawing classes at Telfair Academy.
(Atlanta GA) Taking high-school art classes; having a crayon etching chosen for inclusion in a UNICEF "clothesline" exhibition at the then-open-air Lenox Square; pursuing "business art" studies at Georgia State College (now University) and serving as art editor of the school yearbook; illustrating a leading hairstylist's coiffure workbook (first commissioned work).
Grown-up Years
(Greenville SC) Co-chairing the Greenville Arts Festival; working for a small, award-winning advertising agency.
(Atlanta GA) Operating a graphic design practice for more than 15 years before changing careers to provide writing, research, and leadership training & consulting services to the business world.
Semi-retirement (present) Years
(Dunwoody GA & Lowell, MA) Occasionally filling friends' requests for graphic illustrations, logo designs, and calligraphy. Finally, in January of 2016, with the right side of her brain no longer content to spend most of its time in pause mode, she began taking classes at Spruill Center for the Arts in Dunwoody and has since relocated to the artists' community of Lowell, Massachusetts, where she continues to draw and paint.
The hyphenated combination of surnames with which Bonnie signs her work is an homage to the creative legacies of both her paternal grandmother, May Belle Bailey, and maternal grandfather, Milton Arden Sr.
(Savannah GA) Coloring inside the lines in coloring books; completing pictures on the "Winky Dink & You" magic TV drawing screen on Saturday mornings; creating paper-doll outfits for Betsy McCall and drawing evening-gown designs for the Katy Keene comic-book character; attending drawing classes at Telfair Academy.
(Atlanta GA) Taking high-school art classes; having a crayon etching chosen for inclusion in a UNICEF "clothesline" exhibition at the then-open-air Lenox Square; pursuing "business art" studies at Georgia State College (now University) and serving as art editor of the school yearbook; illustrating a leading hairstylist's coiffure workbook (first commissioned work).
Grown-up Years
(Greenville SC) Co-chairing the Greenville Arts Festival; working for a small, award-winning advertising agency.
(Atlanta GA) Operating a graphic design practice for more than 15 years before changing careers to provide writing, research, and leadership training & consulting services to the business world.
Semi-retirement (present) Years
(Dunwoody GA & Lowell, MA) Occasionally filling friends' requests for graphic illustrations, logo designs, and calligraphy. Finally, in January of 2016, with the right side of her brain no longer content to spend most of its time in pause mode, she began taking classes at Spruill Center for the Arts in Dunwoody and has since relocated to the artists' community of Lowell, Massachusetts, where she continues to draw and paint.
The hyphenated combination of surnames with which Bonnie signs her work is an homage to the creative legacies of both her paternal grandmother, May Belle Bailey, and maternal grandfather, Milton Arden Sr.