Charley's Columbia Backyard
The illustrator Paula H. Bowers
By Mimi M. Maddock
mimi@TheColumbiaStar.com

Paula Hayne Bowers IllustratorPhoto by Mimi Maddock

Paula Hayne Bowers, illustrator of Charley's Columbia Backyard , got to know Caroline Coleman Bennett at Dreher High School and when she was teaching Bennett's children at Eastminster Presbyterian Day School. When Bennett decided to write Charley's Columbia Backyard , she asked Bowers to illustrate it. Bennett took her son Coleman and his friend Toni OgunFowora to all the places mentioned in the book, took pictures, and brought them to Bowers. Bowers reproduced the pictures in watercolor.

Bowers has been married to Robert Bowers for 15 years. They have four children: Sarah, 14; Alex, 13; Evelyn Grace, seven; and Paul, 4. Bowers grew up in Shandon and attended Rosewood Elementary School, Hand Middle School, and Dreher High School. She also attended Columbia College. Bowers has recently moved her business, The Art Shack, to 2701 A Rosewood directly across from the Pizza Man. The Art Shack is filled with the work of local artists. Bowers teaches children and adults.