Myrtice West is a contemporary folk artist whose life story has much affected her work. When asked, Myrtice West eagerly explains what is symbolized and why in each painting. The interpretation of her religious art is a responsibility that she takes more seriously than eating or sleeping at times.

Myrtice West was born in l923 in Cherokee County, Alabama and has lived most of her life within a few miles of her birthplace on a farm in the foothills of north Alabama. She married at an early age and within a few years was told that she could never bear a child. Unhappy, she began to paint and draw for therapy. She spent years painting scenes from her area on whatever she could find, often painting over old discarded pai...