YOUR BEAUTIFUL HOME

After working 30 years in the medical field and raising three children, watercolor artist Vicki West has reason to celebrate.

No more painting as a hobby in the basement. She’s painting herself into a new corner.

West’s new studio, completed last September in time to be featured on the Spokane Town and Country Arts Tour, is the realization of a dream.

When a company merger changed her retirement plans, West decided to try her hand at art.

The studio features wide French doors that visually expand the space.

“When the doors are open, the room feels even larger,” West said. “It opens directly to the outdoors.”

The studio, which includes a salvaged desk, is furnished with pieces that have sentimental value to West.

“I have an old chest from my first apartment that the manager wanted to take to the dump,” she said. “I saved it and I’ve had it ever since.”

West’s paintings are currently on display at Aunties Bookstore.

“I waited all my life to do this,” West said. “I can’t tell you how much I love it.”