Selma artist curious to know if her work will sell

Matese Amanda Towns’ Prestridge, who goes by the name Matese Towns professionally, is an artist with a varied and wide skill set.

She said she does “painting, hand drawing, paper craft and digital design.” She is open to the opportunity to do some mural work and to present her works at events, but she hasn’t quite turned that art-to-business corner just yet.

Towns has been a painter for over 30 years and a digital artist for 19 years. Towns has also been writing since elementary school; she has done some script writing since high school and has dabbled in playwriting since the sixth grade. Her second passion is dance, which she has been doing for 20 years now.

The talented Towns has even put her artful hands to designing her own wedding invitations, and she and a close friend designed a logo for an elementary school when she was at The University of Alabama, where she graduated with a degree in telecommunication and film.

“I like all the mediums I use to create,” Towns said. “I don't try to stay in one medium to create, but I know each has its own strengths and limitations. Like, when I made my wedding invitations or when I made the invitations for my niece’s birthday party, I knew [that] the best way to create was digital design, and I also picked the right kind of paper for the perfect fit.”

But now she has thought hard about showcasing and selling her artwork, and she is curious to know if her work will sell. “I love painting. I like my paintings. I would love to get paid for my work, but I [had] never thought it was a career path for me,” she said.

More from this section

Vanessa Trump posts supportive message after boyfriend Woods's arrest

Vance to meet Orban in Hungary ahead of elections

MLB doubles down on gambling with new Polymarket deal

Her years of training and honing her craft has garnered her the support of many of her peers, who have remembered her as the “talented Matese at Selma High School,” one Selma High School alum remembers.

Town’s artwork has an impressive range, from beautiful abstracts to concrete modernism. She shows no signs of limiting herself or the mediums that she uses to express herself in art. And her willingness to keep going with it cannot be mistaken for a mere hobby. She remains adamant about her willingness to showcase and sell her artwork.

Towns says that she has lots of ideas on different things that she wants to do with her artwork.

For now, the artistic endeavors of this Selma artist are condensed to the confines of family and friends. But that’s not where Matese Towns is planning on stopping. She wants her hard work out there, and she wants to soothe that serious mental questioning that many artists toil with: “If I build it, will they come?” 

For all who are interested in purchasing or contracting with this Selma artist, contact the artist directly from her email: matesetowns@gmail.com.