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is a perfect place for taking her creative
ideas and bringing them to life.
Merry grew up in Macon, graduating
from Lassiter High School in 1969. She
attended Macon State College a while and
then enrolled in the drafting program at
Macon Area Tech (now Central Georgia
Technical College). She was one of only
two women out of about 20 students in
her class.
“I loved it!” she said of drafting, and she
followed a career in drafting that brought
her to work for Nottingham, Brook &
Pennington (NBP), consulting engineers,
for many years before retiring.
She began in general drafting but
gravitated to drawing plumbing because it
made sense to her, compared to elec
tricity, which you cant see. She said she
used to watch her grandfather, whom
she described as a mechanics mechanic,
working on projects in the garage and
found it fascinating.
NBP had projects all around Georgia.
Merry drew the plumbing for Mary Per
sons, the Georgia Public Safety Training
Center and K.B. Sutton Elementary, for
example.
Her transition to drawing cartoons
came when the staff at NBP drew names
one Christmas and she had
trouble coming up with a good gift for
the co-worker whose name she drew.
Someone suggested she draw a carica
ture. She did, the co-worker loved it, and
her caricatures became a tradition in the
office. She said many were kept over the
years, and she recently became aware of
one being included in a funeral service.
“I usually try to tell a story ’ she ex
plained.
Soon family members also became
the recipients of her sketches that cap
tured personalities, and she designed
special Christmas stocking for her sons,
daughters-in-law and grandchildren.
From capturing the personalities of those
she knew personally with her pen, it was a
logical step to capturing public personali
ties in her cartoons.
Merry said the cartoons take her from
30 minutes to all day to complete.
“Some little statement hits me and I pick
up on it,” she said. “They just keep going.”
Sometimes her cartoons even seem to
foreshadow events, like when she drew a
dark storm cloud around the U.S. capital
shortly before Jan. 6. Merry said she
enjoys drawing political cartoons and also
enjoys the political cartoons of others,
including those of AF Branco that have
been running in the Reporter. She noted
that the cartoonist has to be aware of his
or her reader.
Merry’s husbands mother was from
Monroe County, and when his father
retired his parents built a house in Forsyth
Landing where his father, Robert Harris,
became known for his bountiful garden,
which was featured several times in the
Reporter.
Merry’s family tree has a number of tal
ented artists, including an aunt who lived
in Miami whose work Merry admired.
Several of her works hang in Merry’s
home. Beautiful cross-stitch works by her
sister also hold prominent spots in her
home, alongside an iris Merry painted
when she was 14 and flowers painted by
a South Carolina cousin. A cousin on her
father’s side was the state artist of South
Carolina.
For several years, Merry has taken an
art class with Mark Ballard in Macon.
It started with pencil sketching and has
expanded into other media.
“It’s a bunch of us girls,” she said. “He
challenges us; he’s a good teacher and very
talented.”
She enjoys learning, creating and shar
ing creations and ideas.
Haygood, Lynch, Harris, Melton & Watson, LLP
ATTORNEYS AT LAW
Robert L. Harris C. Robert Melton
Practicing Law Since 1984 Practicing Law Since 1974
Charles B. Haygood, Jr. Larry R Lynch
Molly Hudson Watson
Practicing Law Since 1998
Retired 1968 - 2018
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