The Moody Jones Gallery, a boutique art gallery located at 107b S Easton Rd, Glenside, is featuring a series of sculpture vessels created by local artist Adrean Bailey. The exhibition will run through December 31st. Included among the works on display are sculptures and handmade pillows for sale.

This installation marks a new chapter in the life of a novice artist. Adrean is two weeks shy of her 80th birthday, and shows no signs of slowing down.

“My mother was a seamstress, and as a young person, the scraps I would use to make doll clothing,” Adrean, an Elkins Park resident since 1986, said. “By junior high school I was sewing very well. I could make suits and coats. Sewing has been a passion of mine since I was young. I always loved using my hands. I decided to go to Seniors in the Park’s ceramic classes.”

While Adrean has taken various art classes through the years, her work stems from raw talent that has been cultivated over time. She has nurtured similar artistic skills in countless others, including her husband of 57 years, Robert Bailey, who is always glad to work on a project with her, whether it’s reupholstering chairs or painting at the kitchen table.

“I love everything that deals with art,” she said. “It’s been with me all my life. The Lord gave me the gift, and I’m just trying to utilize it.”

Their son, Michael, learned latch-hook as a child, as did their daughter Nicole, who also learned how to sew, paint, and crochet, among other crafts. Adrean’s three granddaughters, Shelby, Sydney, and Micaela, have each designed and manufactured jewelry with their grandmother.

Adrean recently partnered with her daughter, educator/author Nicole Bailey-Williams, on a literary project documenting her artistic journey. The end result, “This Creative Life: Conversations about Seven Decades of Artisanal Living,” will be published in December. In the book, the co-authors trace Adrean’s artistic influences in clay, paint, the kitchen, in home decor, and in clothing design.

Born in South Carolina, Adrean was educated in Philadelphia public schools before receiving an academic scholarship to Cheney University where she majored in math education. From there, she taught math at Dobson Elementary School and other local schools for 33 years. Always an artist at heart, she infused art into her teaching of math, taking pleasure in helping her students craft dodecahedrons and other geometric shapes with toothpicks and marshmallows.

For more on Glenside’s Moody Jones Gallery, you can visit their Facebook page here. You can also email moodyjonesgallery@gmail.com or call the gallery at 215.582.4496. To schedule an interview with the artist, you can call Nicole at 215.962.6208.