A self-taught artist, Russell began his art career in the small town of Redan Georgia, located about twenty-five miles east of Atlanta. It was here that he gathered many ideas now incorporated into his paintings. As a young boy, Russell enjoyed sketching many different subjects including old barns, houses, churches, animals and landscapes. In those years, most of his work was in pencil or charcoal. Wanting to add color to his subjects, in 1974 he began to use pastels as his medium and began focusing more on his favorite subjects.In the early part of 1976, he was invited to...more