Lynn Parrott's business card simply says:

Artist.

The title appears to be both logical and appropriate. She is committed to her craft, because she has always made and found time throughout her 50-plus years to paint. And, she adds, "It is fun to say I am an artist."

This day, she is sitting at a picnic table on the lawn outside the new Calhoun Street Gallery in Bluffton. She is delighted to be part of the new co-op because the building provides her and each of the other artists 15 feet of space to display their work. Most galleries have space for one or two of an artist's paintings, she says, but the new gallery offers her an opportunity to show a body of work rather than a single piece, and, as she says, "a body of work says who you are."

Parrott can't remember a time when she didn't paint. Her mother painted and her sister still paints. She recalls that while she was growing up her mother always had paints around the house.

"Art has always been a part of my life," she said. In fact, she can still hear her mother encouraging her to look at shapes or at the "negative space" - particularly when fall came, leaving only bare branches abandoned by fallen leaves.

Parrott paints primarily in watercolor and oil on canvas, and she prefers to work on large pieces rather than on small ones. As to the subject matter, she is, as she said, "famous" for her flowers.

However, she does recollect painting on fabric and on walls. She laughed as she told of painting dogwood blossoms on an ultra suede skirt in the days when the fabric was new and very expensive. She smiles as she recalls painting a picture of a reclining nude for an Adventure Inn Motel. Parrott has designed hand-painted T-shirts which were shipped and sold in the Caribbean.

Currently she has designed her own note cards that are on sale at the Hilton Head Art League, Pretty Papers, The Porcupine and at Calhoun Street Gallery.

Although she once swapped a painting for a dress and another one for a chair, Parrott estimates that she creates 30-40 pieces per year, each selling for between $350 and $2,000.

Moving and traveling has not deterred Parrott from her painting, nor has raising her two sons, Callum and Walker. In fact, she said, "I painted more when the boys were younger because I was on a schedule then."

Her husband, Peter Parrott, worked in real estate throughout his career, so they have lived in Atlanta, in Greenville, S.C., north Georgia, Tennessee and Texas. In the early 1970s they moved to Hilton Head and lived just north of what was then the Sea Crest Motel. They stayed 15 years in Hilton Head before moving again, this time to Nashville, Tenn.. They returned to Hilton Head about six years ago and she says adamantly that this is home. She is happy to be here because of the light, because there are so many interesting people, because of being able to be outdoors.

While her work may seem intuitive, Parrott has devoted years to study and refinement of her art.

She has studied at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and at Clemson, ultimately earning her bachelor's degree in art from Queens College in Charlotte, N.C.

Lynn loves the Impressionists, particularly admiring the work of O'Keefe, Wyeth and Picasso.

And while other artists may suffer from creative frustrations, Parrott is perplexed not by limits but by variety.

"I like to do so many things it is hard to focus on my work," she explained, reeling off interests as diverse as her palette: Hilton Head Art League, garden club, tennis, golf, the new gallery, entertaining, the Apple Pie Painters - a plein air group. She talked of doing community work - like making decorations for the wine auction and creating a donation for the Self Family Arts Center.

The diversity though is comforting.

"Over the years I have had to move, to be alone, to make new friends - now there is more texture in my life," she said. "I'm the happiest I have ever been in my life."