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artist bio

Tina Pepper Bradford is an artist from Vaughan, MS. She is married to Billy Bradford and has two sons, David and Pepper, one daughter, Heather, and four grandchildren. The Bradfords have both owned businesses in Yazoo City, MS and attend First Baptist Church there.

The word ‘Genesis’ has meant a lot to Tina, since her life has been marked by a series of ‘beginnings’. Attending Ole Miss to major in art, she eventually switched majors (and universities). She graduated from Miss. State Univ. in Science Education. Then followed years of change (another name for "beginning again"). She taught physics, chemistry, biology and art, first in Florida and then in South Mississippi. During a ten-year period in the 70’s and early 80’s, Tina and Billy traveled in the Southeast with a professional art and craft show circuit where Billy sold handmade 18^th century reproduction furniture and Tina sold her paintings. She won several awards for her paintings during those years, raised three children, a few sheep, taught spinning and weaving and sold her weavings as well as the paintings.

In the 80’s Billy and Tina opened a soil-testing laboratory, where Tina taught herself the computer and computer programming. This led to her opening her first business where she traveled to New Mexico and did computer training for a mine in southern New Mexico. There she met many artists and her love of art began to emerge again. Leaving the computer world behind, she began to think about returning to her first love-painting. In 2001, Tina opened an art gallery, aptly named Genesis Gallery, in Yazoo City, MS. She was sure she could combine this type of business with ‘lots of time to paint’. However, the business took on a life of its own and left little time for painting. So, in October 2003, Tina sold her gallery and “went to the woods to paint”. 

In August 2004 after a heart attack and other related heart "events", Tina found herself once more 'beginning again'. This time the mental adjustments were as difficult as the physical or geographical ones previously, and she learned a new term--"the new normal". She sees every single day now as a 'new beginning' and hopes that her paintings will reflect a totally positive view of a life blessed by God...the Author of Genesis. Someone said "there's always a sunrise somewhere!" 

Tina has been represented by Clay And Canvas Gallery in Tupelo, MS and Turning Leaf Gallery in Bay St. Louis, MS. She currently has her work at Jackson Street Gallery in Ridgeland , MS , at The South in Highland Village, and in many private and corporate collections.