b. 1942 - d. 2009

Woodrow Wilson Long was born in Plant City, Florida as one of twelve siblings. At the age of three he started working in the fields with his family and his childhood was spent moving to the places that had agricultural work. When Woodie became an adult, he began painting houses in Alabama. He loved his work, but would also paint his own original creations on walls and then paint over them before the owners noticed. After twenty-five years of painting houses, his doctor advised him to stop because of his health, but the itch to paint persisted. That is when Woodie picked up his wife Dot's paint brushes and watercolors. He began painting jubilant children jumping on their Grandma's bed and countless other memories of his large family and his childhood. He created fluid images with an astute sense of color on tin, plywood, masonite or paper. Of his thousands of paintings, he has been collected by the Cooperstown Museum in New York, national and international galleries, and numerous corporate and private collections including Helen Hunt, Johnny Cash, Dan Ackroyd, and the House of Blues in New Orleans and Orlando.

Woodie died just days shy of his 67th birthday. We were so fortunate to have this gentle-hearted artist living and painting back in his home state of Florida. He will be missed by his many friends and fans.