“I come from a very artsy family,” Prentice said. “My mother and my father are both renowned artists. My mother is a painter and my father was an artist and architect. So, it’s in the blood.”

Prentice said that growing up it was not at all unusual to come home and find artistic embellishments or painting on the walls and furniture.

“A rhinestone television or a painted sofa in my house was the absolute norm,” she said laughing. “I don’t think I really had a chance.”

Although art has been a way of life for as long as she can remember, Prentice did not actually take up painting until about four years ago. It all started in her garage, where she would often retire to in the wee hours of the night to work on various art projects, such as crafting furniture or other hands-on activities.

“At night when everything was settling down, I would go out there (garage) with a glass of wine and that is really when I just started picking up the paints and painting,” she said. “The very first thing I painted was a mermaid. I don’t know why. I had a board and painted a mermaid on it, and it has just gone from there.”

After Prentice painted her first mermaid, she discovered the therapeutic side of painting.

“I was going through some crazy times when I started painting, and it was an outlet for me. It kept my mind off things and allowed me to keep going,” she explained. “It was therapy … now, I am addicted.”

Prentice never ruled out the possibilities to create. She found herself painting on various materials from metal to plywood.

“I will pretty much paint on anything I can find,” she said. “My whole house is a canvas. If you love the floor, paint it.”

Like many artists, Prentice never feels that her work is complete.

“A lot of times when I am painting I will turn a painting around when I think I am done … maybe a week or so I will come back and look at it,” she said. “And, sometimes I will repaint the whole painting. I don’t think you’re ever finished until someone actually takes it away from you.”

Prentice, originally from South Carolina, moved to Destin, Fla. a little more than seven years ago. She feels that she is finally at home among the diverse and open-minded residents and visitors that line the Emerald Coast.

“The arts – that is one thing that I really love about this community – the arts and how creative so many people are and how eccentric and loose they are with their art,” she explained. “That is how I like to paint. Take my mermaids on Harleys – I think the community is very accepting of that kind of art.”

Word of Prentice’s funky mermaids spread quickly throughout the community in the past four years. It is not at all unusual to find her funky mermaids in local stores, restaurants, bars, her studio, walls of friends and on her Web site at www.wendyprentice.com. The paintings range in price from $100 to $800.