For Mathews County artist Sammy Anderson, creating art is play. Anderson’s paintings are featured in Tappahannock Artists Guild’s second fall solo show that opened on Oct. 19.

The watercolor paintings displayed in “Visions from Within” are Anderson’s experiments with color and composition to convey stories. The exhibit runs through Nov. 25 at the TAG gallery at 200 Prince Street, Tappahannock.

After a career in teaching and raising three children, Anderson said that she feels that artistic expression is a reward. “Except for a box of crayons in kindergarten, I didn’t have time to pursue my artistic interests until retirement,” she explained, though her interest was encouraged by a Bay School class after the birth of her third child.

An early mentor, Lillian Shaw, encouraged then 34-year-old Anderson to try something new. Teaching full-time, she had to put off the experimentation and exploration the Bay School class inspired. But after ...