Illinois recently lost a treasure when 84-year-old folk artist Adolphe George Colin passed away. George and his wife Winnie spent many days in their Salisbury gallery surrounded by dozens of his works and countless personal mementos. Born in California, George’s family moved to Springfield when he was 7 years old. A Lanphier High School graduate, George worked at Pillsbury Mills for almost 30 years before quitting his day job to devote all his time to art.

Art in Illinois isn’t confined to cities or art museums, it is in our streets, parks, civic spaces and restaurants. Illinois artist Felicia Olin’s works in paint and mixed media include familiar faces and places in our state. Born in Marion County, Felicia studied art at Benedictine University and Illinois State University and lives in Springfield. See Felicia’s art and where it has appeared on her website.

ILI: How long have you been an artist or when did you start?
Olin: It is hard to say how long I have been an artist because I have been obsessed with making art since I was able to grab a crayon and scribble.

There was never a time in my memory where it wasn't important to me. If there was any particular moment where I became aware of the potential of art in my life, that moment was in 8th grade when my art teacher, Wanda Riseman, entered my work into the Scholastic Art Competition and I had one of my pieces sent to New York for their national judging. It was motivating to know that this thing I just did naturally had some merit.

When Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist who grew up in Chicago, published her first academic paper titled "Cranial suture eccentricities: a case in which precocious closure complicated determination of sex and commingling" in the Journal of Forensic Science in 1989, she probably couldn’t have deduced that she would one day go on to pen some of the most thrilling and engaging crime fiction novels of her generation.

But that is exactly what happened.