With her canvas , paints and brushes , Karla Noble Lewis doesn ’ t get as much attention as the bride but she does draw curious looks at weddings .
For the past few years , the Valdosta State University graduate has worked as a wedding painter throughout South Georgia .
“ Photographers capture the reality . You want something different from that painting hanging on the wall . Something a little more personal .”
Lewis paints live during the ceremony and reception . She focuses on the bride and groom with the church or some part of the wedding venue as background scenery . Some paintings include the wedding party or guests .
The job comes with a certain level of pressure .
“ Weddings are high-stress situations . The first one was kind of nerve-racking for me ,” Lewis said . “ But I don ’ t typically sweat it .” Pre-planning helps . Lewis has a consultation with the wedding party to discuss expectations . She contacts the wedding planner or a family member to plan her work space and coordinate locations with the photographer .
On the wedding day , Lewis arrives two to three hours prior to the ceremony . She sets up her work space , takes reference photographs , including photos of anyone who will be prominent in the painting preferably before the ceremony .
She begins painting as soon as possible then paints throughout the wedding ceremony .
“ When I have finished for the night I ‘ present ’ the painting to the Wedding couple ,” Lewis notes on her website . “ This is a great photo opportunity for both of us and I try to be ready before the photographers leave .”
She takes the painting home with her to add details and create the finished work .
While she takes the canvas home to complete the painting , she said “ if I ’ m not happy with it , I work on it until I am happy with it .”
Lewis has spent a lifetime creating art .
The eighth of nine children , she grew up drawing . Jimmie Noble Sr ., her father , was a draftsman . Elizabeth Gail Noble , her mother , sewed . Her father brought home discarded drafting paper .
“ There was only one TV in the house ,” Lewis said . “ So we were always drawing on the backs of the drafting paper . I always had that element to create something .”
She took up painting as a youth .
“ It ’ s like a kid with a basketball . If you hear him out there dribbling , dribbling , dribbling every day , he ’ s going to get better . Same with art ,” she said . A high school art teacher urged Lewis to go to college for art .
She went to Valdosta State University for a few years after graduating high school in 2002 . She left college for a while then returned a few years ago . She graduated with a bachelor ’ s degree in art from VSU and earned a master ’ s degree in art education from Kennesaw State University .
She teaches high school visual art at Baconton Community Charter School .
Lewis also finds time to draw and paint for herself . She regularly displays her paintings in art exhibits throughout South Georgia , including Thomasville and Moultrie . Her personal paintings lean toward still-life , animals and realism – pecans , peaches , dogs , cows in a field .
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