Oneta is a lifelong artist who at various times has been a painter of portraits, pets and wildlife, a T-shirt artist, an avian artist, a sign painter and letterer of big trucks and race cars, an art teacher for almost 50 years…and always in between and around, a Science Fiction and Fantasy artist. She traveled for many, many years over most of the states selling her work at art shows, festivals, Wildlife, Native American Expos and cultural events and, of course, Science Fiction and Fantasy Conventions. Her lists of accomplishments are rather strange and varied. As a single mother, Oneta painted anything and everything that could earn her a living and feed the kids. She did a commissioned portrait of Minnie Pearl and Rod Brasfield that hung in the Star’s Entrance to the Grand Ole Opry for over 30 years. The state of Virginia used one of her pieces for their Native American car tag. One of her pieces was used as a postal cancellation stamp, also in Virginia. She was commissioned to paint all the portraits of the Chiefs of the United Indians of Virginia Member Tribes. These hung at the Smithsonian .She was the featured artist at the Great American Indian Expo in Richmond, VA for three years running as well as the guest artist at many other Native American, Sci-Fi and Avian Conventions around the US. Her work has been featured in various magazines including Bird Talk ( the primo mag for bird people.) In it she was hailed as the ‘Most Versatile Artist in the US’. Her prints were sold in WhiteTails Unlimited shows in almost every state ( It is like Ducks Unlimited but with deer), she also placed in the Arkansas Wildlife Stamp contest. Her prints have been sold in as varied places as the ONLY Native American shop in Switzerland and the gift shop at Sherwood Forest. She has boxes of ribbons and plaques stored somewhere from dozens of Cons including a 1st Place in mixed media at NASFIC (North American Science Fiction Convention). In 2008, Mississippi Public Broadcasting filmed a special on her that was and still is aired on the PBS show, Mississippi Roads. The following year she was filmed for The History Channel for her research and portrait of Chief Tishomingo of Mississippi.
The L. Frank Baum Oz books and The moon of Three Rings by Andre Norton were the books that grabbed Oneta at 12 and started her on a lifelong love of Science Fiction and Fantasy. She has an extensive library, over 7000 volumes at last count. Once at a con, Roger Zelazny sent for her (and her books) because he was doing a reading and had not brought the correct books but knew she had them. For many years Oneta painted around the clock, often going days without sleep. More than anything, she is grateful that with age and time, she can finally paint as she wishes, what she wishes and that she has raised two generations of readers, writers, gamers, and con lovers.