Nelle Gilchrist Peebles

Sarah Nelson "Nelle" Gilchrist Peebles, an artist admired for her captivating portraits, landscapes, and still lifes, died on July 11 at her home in Columbia. She was 87.ééMrs. Peebles worked in a wide variety of media and forms and especially enjoyed her favorite subjects- trees, flowers, and children. "Her love for art led to her own personal mission to teach others about art," said Tiffani Hill-Patterson. Peebles' students included people of all ages and experience. "I'd like to see the day when people think painting isn't just a frill," she said. "I hope people will realize that art is a necessity to life because ité gives you a sense of appreciation for beauty." éPerhaps best known for her traditional pastel portraiture, Peebles began her professional career in New York City just after graduating from Auburn University. She returned often to New York for further study at The Arté Students' League and was committed to life-long learning. Her studies led her to The Vermont Studio Center, The Memphis College of Art, The University of Maryland, and the studio of Albert Handell in Woodstock, New York. Her work is in private collections across the country and in corporate collections in the Southeast. Of particular interest are her many works in the Nashville and New York offices of Broadcast Music Incorporated.éShe exhibited consistently for more than twenty years in Tennessee and in her home state of Alabama, winning numerous prizes and awards. While she worked most prolifically in the figurative realm, she was always eager to experiment with techniques of abstraction and expressionism - and was recognized for this by inclusion in juried exhibitions of contemporary art at the Mobile Museum of Art, The Red Clay Survey at the Huntsville Museum of Art, and in the Cheekwood National Contemporary Painting Competition, in which juror Charles Moffett said, "I looked for people specifically who had transcended the artists that they had admired or been influenced by and had done something fresh." éBorn in Courtland, Alabama, she was daughter of the late Malcolm Frank Gilchrist, Sr. and Sarah Boyd Hunt Gilchrist.éééShe was married November 23, 1947 to Columbia native and former Washington Redskins player, James McAden "Mac" Peebles. Mr. Peebles died July 19, 1997.é éMrs. Peebles is survived by daughter and son-in-law, Betty Peebles and Roger Chapman of Lewisburg and Nashville; grandson, Douglas Chapman of Lewisburg and Nashville; and son, James M. Peebles of Memphis; nieces, Elizabeth McAden Petty Mitchell, Jane Peebles Buchanan, Malcom Stanton Gilchrist, Michael Lane Gilchrist, Thomas H. Peebles, III, Martin Arnold Peebles, Jr., and Bascom Regen Peebles; several great-nieces and great-nephews. ééIn addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, Colonel Malcom F. Gilchrist, Jr.ééThe family will visit with friends Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. at Oakes & Nichols.é The family will gather at Oakes & Nichols Monday at 10:00 a.m. and proceed to Wilkes Cemetery for graveside services at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Jeff Foster officiating.é Honorary pallbearers will be her nieces, nephews, and friends at Sterling House in Columbia. éMemorials may be made to Caris Hospice, 1412 Trotwood Avenue, Columbia 38401.é Notes of sympathy may be sent to www.oakesandnichols.com.