Joyce Kane - Special to the Sun

For Judy Wolford Deems, chosen as Woman of the Year 2007 by the Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce, making people smile is one of her greatest satisfactions as an artist.

This prolific and talented local artist and mother has contributed greatly to the beautification of her community. In addition to displaying paintings at Rich Pelletreau’s Wildlife Gallery in Wofford Heights, Deems has donated her artwork to the Cowboy Memorial Museum in Caliente and for numerous fundraising events at the Whiskey Flat Days.

Judy Deems painting a mural in the Kern Valley Hospital’s Skilled Nursing Facility.

Deems is well known for painting large murals on the Chamber of Commerce building for the Lake Isabella Beautification Committee (unfortunately painted over because the Chamber could not maintain its upkeep) and more recently in the halls of Kern River Valley Hospital’s Skilled Nursing Facility in Mt. Mesa.

Deems was born in Bakersfield just a few years after her parents moved to California during the Dust Bowl era in 1942. Her father James Wolford was from Arkansas and her mother Ida May Hubbard was from Oklahoma. Mr. Wolford is now 97 and resides in Bakersfield, where he is interviewed every year about his Dust Bowl journey.

Deems attended Munsey Grammar School, Golden State Junior High, and Foothill and Bakersfield High Schools. She has two children from her first marriage, Jack Johnson III, 42, and Brenda, 41, both of whom live in the Kern River Valley.

Deems got remarried in 1973 to Michael Deems. They have a daughter, Michele, now 22, who lives at home and works at Vons as a cashier. Deems is proud of 'always having a loving family,' and making 'wonderful lifelong friends.'

She drew and painted throughout high school and would give her paintings to her relatives as gifts. Her art was just a hobby until Deems was in a serious car accident in 1978. Her face was badly injured and she said, 'All I had was time' while she recuperated. It was here she started to 'continually improve my artwork.' She later went back to school at Bakersfield College and majored in art.

After Deems moved to Lake Isabella in 1984, she tried to enter her first art show as an amateur, but the judges couldn’t believe she wasn’t a professional artist, so they entered her in the professional category and she won second place. The Kern Valley Art Association paid her dues that first year, and she’s been a member ever since. She’s served as KVAA president, six times as first vice president, twice as second vice president, and also as hospitality chairperson.

Deems worked for the Salvation Army in Bakersfield and was a member of the Blue Birds before moving to the Kern River Valley. She is also a member of Kern Council of the Arts and the South Fork Women’s Club. She owns a nutcracker collection, including a rare female figurine she’s quite proud of.

Another of Deems’ major accomplishments is an instructional art video she produced titled 'Painting Western Art with Wolford Deems.' She has won numerous awards and so many ribbons for her artwork that she has lost count.

When the Skilled Nursing Facility asked her to paint murals on their walls, they said they could not offer her very much money. Her usual fee is about 1,500 dollars, but the SNF could only offer 100 dollars for each mural. They told her to just paint something quick and simple, but Deems said she couldn’t do that. 'If I’m going to put my name on it, I’m going to do the best that I can,' she said.

She painted many scenes for the elderly patients in the SNF, including a beach, forest, animals, and the desert. Deems was inspired by their reaction. When the patients began to thank her, she said it changed her whole outlook. The family of one woman who would not come out of her room and spent the entire time in bed said that she now gets up to look at the beautiful murals. 'She’s so much happier,' the family told Deems.

'It’s nice when you can make a little bit of difference for them,' Deems said. Her new goal is to make a career out of painting murals for hospitals and doctor’s offices. 'I don’t have a lot of money,' she stated. 'I have this talent, this art’Äîthat’s what I can give. It’s well worth it.'