Though she had no formal training, and little or no experience, it was a life-long love of art that drove Lee Tuggle to seek instruction as an adult.  Art lessons weren’t available in the classroom when Lee was in school, so learning art, in any form, it had to come through outside sources.  That didn’t happen for Lee, so it wasn’t until her adult years, in the 1980’s to be exact, that she began to take classes from Pell City resident, Rocky Stovall.  Since then she has studied with Wayne Spradley of Pell City and Margaret Hand of Gadsden, and also with artists, Donnie Fendley, Jamie Swindall, and Ila Clay.  

When she lost the use of her right hand in the 1980’s, Tuggle just made up her mind to paint and draw with her left hand instead.  She even offered instruction to students, teaching home-schooled students for about 10 years.  She also gave private instruction to children enrolled in the public school system, and taught art lessons at the Pell City Senior Citizens Center.  Though she stopped painting and teaching for a time, during the illness and home-going of her mother, she has resumed her painting and drawing now, using a variety of mediums, including oils, acrylics, watercolors and pencil.

 “I love painting old homes and covered bridges, and things like that,” admits Tuggle, but among her paintings one might find a variety of subjects, from landscapes to still lifes–and even a penciled portrait or two.

A collection of Lee Tuggle’s paintings is on display this month, and throughout the month of April, at the Pell City Library.