It was more than 50 years ago that Tallulah resident Lillian Baudouin Almond taught herself how to paint. Now, at 85, she is not only showing her work, but she’s winning first- and second-place awards and selling her simple, yet alluring pieces to local collectors.

Almond first introduced herself to drawing by tracing a house onto a scrap piece of paper to see how it would turn out. After that, she began free-handing and developed a style all her own.

&#8220I trained my own self,” she said.

Teaching herself is something the artist has been doing her whole life. Born to French immigrants, Almond had to teach herself how to read and write English when she was a child in Natchitoches Parish. Without much formal education, Almond figured out how to learn things her own way.

Her art has been called &#8220Grandma Moses,” but her daughter and Vicksburg resident, Lucille Ridges, the youngest of six children, thinks of it simply as traditional folk art. For Almond, it’s a truth that comes from within – no matter what the surface.

&#8220I just use any piece of paper and draw on it,” she said. &#8220It’s scribble – I call it scribble.”

With encouragement from Ridges, Almond has entered her works, which span many decades, into shows held by the Vicksburg Art Association. Most recently, she submitted works into the art association’s Spring Exhibit. Her print, &#8220The Lost Souls,” which shows a young girl in a graveyard, won first place. She also had a print, &#8220The Lake House,” win second place in the same category.

Lesley Silver, artist and owner of the Attic Gallery, said &#8220fresh” is the word that comes to mind when she looks at Almond’s paintings.

&#8220I found it delightful and different – not trite,” she said. &#8220It comes from all her years.”

Silver said she heard the judge had said he was looking for &#8220mystery and movement – something that would draw people.”

&#8220I think those had something special,” Silver said.

Painting isn’t the only thing Almond has taken up over the years. She has made wooden purses, constructed rock sculptures, carved faces out of wood and has written and performed blues songs.

Her dabblings in art are like a time line for the artist. Creating has often been a vehicle to get her mind off other things. She has changed mediums as she, herself, changed.

&#8220They say, ‘One door opens, the other closes,’” she said.

One exciting part of her journey came in 2003 when she recorded an album and performed on stage with Ridges, a renowned international blues performer. Like painting, singing is something that came naturally to Almond.

&#8220With singing, one day, I said, ‘I can do that,’” she said. &#8220I always sang my kids to sleep, then I would make the song rhyme.”

Each piece of art and song she sings is not &#8220perfect” by her standards, but it is true, and like the blues, Ridges said, it comes from the heart.

Some paintings turn out to be crumpled pieces of paper in the trash can, while others make it in to frames on the walls of collectors’ private collections.

But, what ends up on paper seems to be a surprise to Almond every time.

&#8220It’s like it popped right on out – like it came out of my mind, but I didn’t know how it did,” Almond said of one piece.

As she looks through artwork she has created over time, each piece carries with it a story that leads the artist to reminisce. Many depict old scenes – places she has been or seen in a book. Others capture &#8220the good ole days,” as one piece is titled.

To Almond, art is more than something to fill the days or even to fill other people’s walls. It is a part of her.

&#8220I found a way to make myself live,” she said.

Almond’s works can be viewed at her Web site, www.digitalmantra.com/lillian.

Vicksburg Art Association Spring 2006 Exhibition Awards.

The Vicksburg Art Association Spring Show, featuring works of members, was held last week at the Firehouse Gallery.

Overall winners selected by Duncan Baird, juror, of Delta State University were: