Washington artist has passion to paint

Gerry Dille started painting nearly 50 years ago, when her “fourth child wore pajamas with feet in them.”
Her interest was sparked by a girlfriend, she said, but since Gerry couldn’t afford a baby sitter to attend painting classes, art teachers came to her home.
The Washington woman, who will turn 85 on Monday, will showcase at least 10 of her paintings as the featured artist in the fifth annual Mental Health Poetry and Fine Art Show, which will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. May 9 at AMI Inc., 913 Jefferson Ave., Washington. A poetry reading will begin at 6:30 p.m. Admission is free.
“I’d rather paint than do housework, or anything,” said Gerry, who is a longtime member of the Golden Triangle Decorative Painters.
Gerry’s canvas ranges from ostrich eggs to porcelain vases to wooden trinkets. “That’s why my husband moves all the time, or he’d get painted,” she joked.
She works with watercolors, acrylics, alkyds and oils, and she enjoys reverse glass painting.
When Gerry and her husband, George, purchased their townhouse in 2005, there was a stage in the basement – minus a stripper pole, she quipped – that she converted into her studio. It is packed with racks of magazines and books on painting, binders of her work and, of course, an extensive assortment of paints.
“I love to paint flowers,” Gerry said, but concedes she will paint anything.
The art show is open to any Washington County resident 18 and older with a current or previous history of mental health issues.
Austin Lee, a certified peer specialist at AMI, pointed to a wall of Gerry’s work and said, “That is what our show is for: illustrating what people with mental illness can do.”
Gerry suffers from depression, which was caused by the unexpected death of the Dilles’ 45-year-old son 15 years ago. The couple were celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in Myrtle Beach, S.C., when they received the phone call.
After her son’s death, Gerry refused to eat, had no interest in painting and turned on the television, but just for the noise.
“I don’t ever want to be in that pit again,” said Gerry, who continues to take medication to combat her symptoms.
Awards will be presented to first- through third-place winners in poetry, fine art and photography, plus there will be an honorable mention and Best of Show. Winners will be selected by judges who are experts in their respective fields.
For more information, call Austin Lee at 724-228-5211.