Debra Paysinger taught high school science and math for 10 years, but the arrival of her third child was the signal for change. Fortunately, her passion for needlepoint allowed her some artistic expression within the constraints of parenthood. When all the kids learned to drive, however, Paysinger found herself with large chunks of time for painting. The last needle- point project went into a drawer unfinished, and she was off. The artist’s master’s degree in biology has informed her sub- ject matter, as she paints birds, lures, sea life and rabbits—or “raddits” as she endearingly refers to them. She even trade- marked the term “the raddit” as her own.
Paysinger assigns a not-to-
be-repeated human name to every bird she paints. While she has prints available for a few of her subjects, she doesn’t sell reproductions of her birds and raddits. She says, “I think it adds a uniqueness to the whole thing.” You can find Paysinger’s works in Studio 151 Gallery in Charleston and Ellen Taylor Interiors + Design in Columbia.
