Virginia Sassaman Watercolor Jewelry Calais, Vermont

According to family legend, when Virginia Sassaman was a toddler, her mother heard the little girl making noises in her crib and came running to see what was wrong. Nothing. Ginny was rocking back and forth saying, “Happy, happy, happy…” Indeed, it became important to Ginny to help make the world a little happier. For years, that meant working for public television and public interest groups as a writer. But her true calling grew clear when Ginny took her first studio art class with her 13 year-old son in a class for 10 to 16 year-olds. “It was a perfect way to begin,” she recollects, “because the atmosphere was so relaxed. And I learned immediately that I had a real facility with watercolors.” When both her children were grown, Ginny began working as a full-time artist—vivid watercolors with upbeat themes. “When I read that the role of artists is to advance societal issues, I just laugh and say, well, not this artist,” she says. “But I believe that my mission of helping make people slightly happier is very serious. Life is rough; we all need more smiles.” Sassaman’s work is now in private collections in Los Angeles, Brooklyn, Princeton, Portland Ore., and Columbia Md. She graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Humanities from Pennsylvania State University, and has taken studio art classes at the Alexandria Art League, American University, and Washington Studio School. Ginny’s partner for more than 26 years has been her high school sweetheart and husband Bob. They have two adult children—and actress and musician.