The work of Murdayne Zehm will be featured at the Beaufort Art Association Gallery

Not too many artists can boast of living on a street named after them. Murdayne Zehm and her husband John live on Zehm Lane, a small, gravel-covered street off Laurel Bay Road. When Beaufort County decided the road needed a street sign, the couple thought, 'Why not use our last name?'

"I don't remember how many years ago that was, but we had to pick a name," Zehm said. "Zehm Lane sounded good."

Zehm, who lists her age as "60-something," came to Beaufort from her native West Virginia in 1973 with her husband and their two daughters and son. Her husband built their house and the two next to theirs. The couple have eight grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last month.

Beginning Aug. 5, Zehm will be the featured artist at the Beaufort Art Association Gallery on Bay Street. Every six weeks the association features the work of a member artist.

Entitled Birds, Blossoms, and Beaufort Beauty, this is Zehm's first exhibit, and she admitted she was a little reluctant to be in the spotlight.

"It's very exciting," said Zehm. "I've never really felt quite brave (enough) to exhibit my art for everyone to look at. There are a lot of great artists in Beaufort, so I feel really honored to have been asked to be the featured artist. It's a privilege."

Zehm said some of her reluctance stems from the fact that she largely is self-taught, having studied art books and taken workshops at the Beaufort Art Association Gallery.

Gallery manager Carol Molten said the BAA's Gallery Committee was instrumental in getting Zehm to sign on as the featured artist.

"We did a little prodding, but it's kind prodding, and it's peer support," said Molten. "It's a group that works together very closely. Once she realized we all wanted her to do it and wanted her to have this opportunity, she was absolutely excited about it. The fact that she's self-taught I think is wonderful. Some of our artists have been to art school for years and years, but she very simply loves painting."

Zehm first became interested in art growing up in West Virginia, where art was always one of her favorite subjects in school.

"I've always enjoyed being creative in all kinds of ways," said Zehm. "I used to sew all the time. I have two girls, and I made all of their clothes. I just decided that I would start seeing what I could do with (art). That's how it started. I've learned a lot over the years. I picked up a few tricks along the way."

Although she does a lot of watercolor paintings, Zehm started out painting acrylics, and she recalled a painting she did for her father in 1981. He passed away in 1986.

"The very first picture I sold to a bank, and I was so thrilled," Zehm recalled. "It was only $200, but I felt like I won $1 million. It was really funny."

Many of Zehm's paintings include and are inspired by scenes of the Lowcountry. She likes to paint nature and listed palmetto trees, a variety of birds, Spanish moss and flowers as some of her favorite subjects.

"She has a very unique, very personal style," said Molten. "She responds very much to Beaufort and what she sees here. She's getting more accomplished as a water colorist. She's very delicate, and her colors have gotten a little bit more intense. She sells something pretty much every month."

According to Zehm, she did home health care about 15 years ago for some senior ladies before they passed on, and she was a sales clerk in a department store as a teenager; but she hasn't really worked a regular job since getting married. In addition to being a carpenter, John Zehm is a minister.

Once they arrived in Beaufort, where John found work as a carpenter, they saw there was not a United Pentecostal Church, of which they were members, so he decided to build one.

"Since he was a builder and a minister, he felt the call to come here and to establish a church and build it himself," said Zehm. "He worked hard for three years to build a building. He pastored the church for 20 years."

The couple eventually left the United Pentecostal organization and called their church the Pentecostal Church of Beaufort. Her husband left the ministry about 15 years ago, but the couple still helps out other churches sometimes, and she has fond memories of that time period.

"It was rewarding," she said. "We met a lot of wonderful Marines, and we're still in touch with them. We saw God change lives, and that was the whole purpose."

Having arrived in Beaufort in the 1970s, Zehm has seen firsthand how the local art scene has developed greatly throughout the years, and she's proud to be a part of it.

"I'm glad that it's one of the top art communities in the United States," she said. "I've seen the arts scene grow a lot, and that's good. For me, painting's a way to relax. Sometimes it's got tension, but when I really get into it, I get lost, and time gets away from me. Being the featured artist, it's done a lot for my morale. I hope that people will come and enjoy."