Keeper Originals:
Watercolor Paintings and Prints was formed in 2003 after the artist,
Lloyd Childers, left her lighthouse keeping duties on the Outer Banks
and retired to Hampstead, NC, near Wilmington, to begin painting in
earnest. After a career in State Government, she moved to Corolla on
the Outer Banks as the lighthouse keeper for Currituck Beach Lighthouse
and executive director of Outer Banks Conservationists, Inc., the nonprofit
group that restored the keepers' house, lighthouse and lighthouse compound
in Corolla.
Having been a "keeper" for five years
and hoping that her paintings would be "keepers" the name
Keeper Originals seemed fitting. Lloyd enjoys the watercolor medium
for her paintings, which she has professionally reproduced in art prints
of various sizes and note cards. The art prints are handsomely matted
to fit standard sized frames and cards are available as singles (5"x7")
or packages of six (4"x6")
In anticipation of her retirement, Lloyd took hundreds
of photographs of the lighthouse, the nearby Whalehead Club and every
aspect of the coastal environment on the Outer Banks, including Nags
Head, Manteo and Wanchese, to use as source material. Daily views of
the lighthouse, keepers' houses and maritime forests in and around the
Village of Corolla were constant sources of inspiration. All are included
in the art prints and note cards in the gallery.
Lloyd's art prints and note cards also include
the unique maritime environment north of the paved road in Corolla,
which is accessible only by four-wheeled drive vehicle. There she found
a wandering band of wild horses, a Coast Guard and Life-Saving Station,
wind patterns in the sand, sea oats, dunes, beach cottages and distant
fishermen--vibrant views to feed her artist's soul.
From her retirement community in Hampstead, Lloyd
is a frequent visitor to Topsail Beach and the areas along the Intracoastal
Waterway. She has recently begun to paint informal portraits of children
or people in curious settings. Other paintings result from her travels
to the North Carolina barrier islands and mountains, as well as the
Pacific North West, New Orleans, and the Southwest.
