Atlanta artist Linda Mitchell draws inspiration from the beauty and diversity of the animal kingdom

On the “City Lights” series “Speaking of Art,” local artists share insights into their influences, processes, and experiences in town. This edition features artist Linda Mitchell. Mitchell uses animal figures in mixed-media painting installations to express the emotional lives of humans. “I use the whole animal kingdom as my cast of characters to tell my stories,” says Mitchell. 

Mitchell always wanted to create as a child. She also had help from a great aunt who was a teacher of art, speech, acting and music, skills that she would teach to Mitchell at home. “Art just seemed like a normal part of life,” Mitchell recalls. In college, Mitchell majored in art and continued on to get a master’s degree in painting and a master’s degree in sculpture.

As an Atlanta native, Mitchell has lived here most of her life. Although she’s moved to other places for short periods of time, she has found herself back in Atlanta. “I love this city. I grew up here in Buckhead with horses living in yards down the street from me and chickens next door, so it was a lot more rural when I grew up here, but it’s still the same place and the same heart and soul underneath.”