Today, Harris uses her art to "take something from the past and bring it up to the future, making memories of how things used to be, how people used to look." Through her paintings, Harris attempts to educate her audience about the everyday activities of the community in which she was raised. Particularly fascinated by change and improvement from one generation to the next, Harris says about The Baptism: "There was an old wooden church with no air-conditioning. When my mama was a girl, people had to go outside and get baptized in the lake. But when I was a girl, you got baptized inside, in a pool that they put right in the middle of the church. Today, I know they build the pool right into the pulpit."

For now, Harris is completely content with her art depicting the simple joys of a time gone by. When asked how her life would be different if she were to stop painting, Harris says, "I guess I’m just used to it, so right now I’m just going to keep on doing it. I guess I’ll stop painting when I get to be 99 years old."

[artist biography by Sydney Pettus; artist photograph by Barbara Alling]