February's Artist of the Month, Phoebe Brumbeloe Larsen, is virtually unknown in the field of art. Phoebe and her late husband Frank moved to Brandon in 1972 and raised their two daughters, Erin and Ashley, here. Phoebe's name might be familiar to Brandon High School graduates to whom she taught language arts or Latin or yearbook journalism sometime during the 11 years she was a teacher at Brandon. She went on to spend 22 years as a middle school assistant principal with Hillsborough County Schools before retiring with 36 total years of service in June, 2009.
Of retirement, Phoebe says, "I thoroughly enjoyed being an assistant principal; but being retired is even more fun, and painting is pure pleasure." Upon retiring, one of Phoebe's first actions was to enroll in Debra Bryant's oil painting class at Center Place. As the daughter of an artist (Dot Hale of Atlanta), Phoebe's interest in art dated all the way back to childhood; but other than watching her mother paint and learning from her, she had had no formal art instruction. She had always longed for time to sit down with a paint brush and see what she could do. With advice and guidance from Bryant, she is now producing an interesting and eclectic variety of oil works. Some of her favorites include a bowl of fruit first photographed on a beach in the Dominican Republic by her husband Hank, a lion photographed on a cold morning at the Atlanta zoo, and a harbor scene of Cesenatico, Italy, shot for her out of a travel book with a friend's cellphone. Phoebe says she likes to tackle any subject but that she probably most enjoys painting portraits. Her unusual style features strong colors and an affinity for impressionism. Classmates teasingly refer to her as "Ms. Van Gogh," while Instructor Bryant describes Phoebe as "fearless."