Marion Cochran's work on display

  POPLARVILLE – The artwork of former Poplarville resident Marion Pittman Cochran is on display at Pearl River Community College.
  Her drawings and watercolor paintings are exhibited on the first floor of Moody Hall and can be seen from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday in July and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday in August.
  Cochran’s artistic talent first surfaced at age 16 when a pencil drawing of a dog won first place in a contest sponsored by a Milwaukee, Wisc. art school. The drawing is a part of the PRCC show.
  Cochran moved to Poplarville in 1952 when her husband, B.W. Pittman, bought the Ford dealership.
  She worked at Pearl River County Hospital from 1965 until 1968 and at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, from 1968 until December 1971 when she married R.F. Cochran Sr. and returned to Poplarville. He encouraged her study of art and framed many of her paintings.
  Following her husband’s death, Cochran moved to an assisted living facility in Denton, Texas. Her daughter, Sybil Estess, arranged for weekly art lessons for her mother. Despite the onset of dementia, Cochran painted more than 100 8.5-by-11 inch paintings while in assisted living. She died on April 26, 2003, at age 81, and is buried in Poplarville.
  The work given to PRCC by Estess represents about half of her collection.