Martha and Van McNinch. my wonderful mom and dad.

Birds Fly Over the Rainbow
Why, Oh, Why Can't I

                                                    “Artist’s Statement”
                                           Deanna Mullins

“Memphis, a place unlike any other.  Colors of the blues, of soul, flow through my paintbrush
and out on to the canvas in a song that is uniquely mine, yet it is the passerby.  The musician, the lovers,
the famous guitarist, the preacher, the Hispanic couple who have left family behind in search of a
better life here, the child who dreams in soft grass, my song is Memphis.  My soul seeped in all that is
southern, all that is family, like peppered brown gravy running down the sides of mamma’s homemade
mashed potatoes with the peelings left on.   This rhythm beats in my heart and runs through my veins
like the mighty Mississippi runs through my town.  The paddle wheel, the potter’s wheel, a rhythm,
from Beale Street, to Main Street, a glance towards Graceland, then back to my cozy studio where
another blank canvas lies waiting to come to life, to reveal life in Memphis.  My toes start tapping
along to its music. Joyfully I take out my palette to begin another happy journey home where my roots
cling to rich soil in the shade of a magnolia tree.”