Bird - Regina Nelson Florey
Bird, also known as Regina Nelson Florey, is a thirty-two year old stay-at-home mother and a Fairhope, Alabama native. She and her husband, JEF, have two daughters, Mary Ann and Cecilia. They live in Daphne, Alabama.
Regina has always been and admirer and collector of folk and outsider art. While building a house in 1998 she realized her walls of folk art were a bit sparse. She picked up some wood scraps from the construction ste and had an idea to fill those gaps herself. Regina started to paint whatever was in her pantry and other colorful things she loved. Tab, her drink of choice, was her first subject. The paintings soon grew to scenes of churches, weddings, baptisms, and her popular school bus. With the idea of the paintings only being on her walls she put no limit on using many vivid colors and no limits on lines or whimsical markings on the borders. She titles all the paintings with a name or thought that relates to the subject, some of which are quite entertaining. She signs all the paintings Bird, because it was her daughter’s nickname as a baby and it sounded catchy!
A friend, Shorty Cate, who owns a gallery in Fairhope, Alabama, saw the art and felt it would sell.
So the rest is history….. A Bird painting was photographed and mentioned in the July 2002 issue of Southern Living. Regina commissions many personal requests and makes numerous donations of art to charitable auctions. Some of her favorite commissions are a Krispy Kreme Doughnut shop and one for the local Ronald McDonald House. Regina’ paintings are now scattered across America and beyond, the most remote one so far was sent to Antarctica.
Every piece of her primitive pop art has something unique about it and she hopes her work brings a smile to everyone. |
