Johns Creek resident Adair Williams has been an artist for most of her life, beginning when she was 3 years old drawing on envelopes at church and continuing through retirement, filling her home with watercolor originals.

“It’s always been a wonderful thing to me that I could go and lose myself in a painting,” she said.

Williams will be one of the 44 artists featured in the Georgia Watercolor Society Exhibit at the Johns Creek Arts Center. The exhibit will open Saturday with a reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

The exhibit features Georgia Watercolor Society’s signature members, the highest tier of artists recognized in the organization. Signature members earn their title by participating in several art shows, including at least one National Exhibition through the society.

“This is the first time we’ve had a show like this for our signature members,” said Pat Hahn, show chair for the exhibit. “It looks like a stunning show.”

Williams studied under artist Pierre Daura when she attended Randolph-Macon Woman’s College where she learned about composition, technique and what makes a successful artist.

“I considered myself very lucky to have gotten to study with a man who studied with Picasso’s father,” she said.

She did portrait sketching to help put her daughter through college, and when her husband Buddy retired she documented their cross-country motorhome adventure with her watercolors, including paintings of their time spent in Alaska that are now hanging in her hallway.

“I always have put my family first and I have always been able to do things in the painting world,” she said.

Williams also taught children’s art classes for more than 20 years and said she enjoyed working with children because of their positive outlook on their own art.

“I’ve always been interested in the number of people that can paint and all they need is a little encouragement,” she said. “There is a theory in some of the art schools that if you can’t take the hard knocks you don’t need to be painting. I don’t agree with that. I believe there’s much satisfaction in painting.”

Williams has been part of the Georgia Watercolor Society since it began in 1975 and said she was excited to participate in a Johns Creek show.

“I was delighted to find out about [the show],” she said. “This past ten years I’ve really been bound right here so I was delighted to find out about it.”

The show will run through Feb. 24. Admission is free. The Johns Creek Arts Center is at 6290 Abbots Bridge Road.