Doris Autry was born in 1937 to Leona and Robert Griffin. She was married at age sixteen and is the mother of four children, eleven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Doris began drawing when she learned how to hold a pencil. She studied cartooning, sign painting, perspective and design with Continental Schools Inc. in her late teens and early twenties. She sold her first painting to Robert Porterfield on the Barter Green in 1956. Doris has published poems in five national libraries, also in magazines and newspapers. She earned her associate degree at Virginia Highlands Community College in 1987 and received her BA at Bristol University in 1993. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Doris began painting primitive style with her mother in 1987 at local fairs and in the Washington County Schools of Virginia. She still takes orders for special places, such as an old home place, favorite mill, etc. Faith Baptist Church plays an important role in her life. She sometimes sings with their quartet. She gives God the glory for her talent.
