It was hard to tell what people liked more, the art or the artist.

Gracious, talented and full of good humour, Anne Marsh Evans opened A Walk Through 70 Years of Art, a retrospective exhibition of her life's work at the Meaford Hall Galleries on Saturday afternoon.

"I'm getting overwhelmed," said the 84-year-old painter as the growing group of well-wishers congratulated her on the show.

But before her emotions could get the better of her, she took us on an entertaining "walk about," tracing the history of her art, from a pencil sketch of a horse she did at the age of 12, to a series of landscapes from France and Italy, to local scenes of Grey and Bruce that so many have come to identify her art with.

The iconic Meaford artist, in fact, has only lived here for 20 years. She was born in 1923 in Nottingham, England, where she attended the Nottingham College of Art, earning her diploma, before joining the WAAF during the Second World War.

She moved to London, Ontario in 1946 and raised a family of six. She resumed her artistic career in 1962, and was the art coordinator of the London Separate School system and later became the head of the art department at Sarnia Central Collegiate.

Her guided tour revealed that her work had been hung in groups according to various stages in her life. The retrospective shows her work over seven decades in a variety of locales, much of it in southern Ontario. Her early work focused on London, notably pen-and-ink drawings of local landmark buildings.

"You'll notice some sections are very monochromatic, while others are more colourful and vibrant," she said. "I think that had a lot to do with kind of a mood I was in at the time. When you're down, your work tends to be more black and white, and when I'm happy, it's more colourful," she said.

In the early 1970s, she moved to the hamlet of Wyoming, in the Sarnia area, where her work featured not only rural scenes but representations of industry, old and new, in what she called "chemical valley."

In 1972, she and her husband Jim opened Jaeman Studio and Gallery in Wyoming and together they pursued their love of painting. During the summer holidays they travelled all over the United States and Canada, spending many days plein air painting.

They moved to Meaford in the mid-1980s and immediately became involved in the local community. Jim played guitar with the Georgian Sound Big Band and a smaller jazz band, and the new locale brought new subject matter for Anne's watercolours, and she became involved in preserving the region's unique character.

Painting trips to England and the Continent, as well as tours of the United States, added to her prodigious output. She also extended her scope to oil painting.

Some of her more notable local works include the design for the Paul's Hotel mural and book jacket designs for Pictorial Meaford and St. Vincent: A Beautiful Land. She has also won numerous juried awards and her work hangs in private and corporate collections as diverse as Dow Chemical and the Queen Elizabeth II, Windsor Castle Collection.

 "I've wanted to have this show for a couple of years now, but I kept putting it off," she said. "I had all this stuff stored down in my basement - I hope some of it sells - I don't want to carry it back," she said with a laugh.

The show included more than 140 pieces and also included works from private collections that "the owners graciously let me borrow" she said.

It also included some personal favourites that are not for sale.

"There's a lot of personal stuff here that I would never get rid of - pieces that I am really fond of," she said. Those included "My Lipizzaner which I think is a really good watercolour," and a painting of her dog Sheba, and another of her husband Jim at his desk, called Sunday Morning.

"There's quite a story that goes with that painting," she remarked. "It was entered in a Water Colour Society juried show, but it was stolen before it could be judged, so I had to paint another one!"

In recognition of her contributions to the heritage of the Meaford area, she was honoured as Citizen of the Year in 1999 by the Rotary Club of Meaford. Her paintings grace official stationery, book covers, homes and businesses far and wide.

The retrospective exhibition continues through the month of April. Regular gallery hours are Monday to Wednesday 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Thursday and Friday 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m.-2 p.m. The Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Centre is in the heart of the town, at the corner of Sykes St. (Hwy. 26) and Nelson Streets.