McCOMB (AP) — ‘‘Painting is a blind man’s profession. He paints not what he sees, but what he feels.’’ — Pablo Picasso.

Picasso’s observation rings true with Gloster native Gerald ‘‘Scooter’’ Havard, who has a natural painting ability despite being legally blind.

Havard, a retired educator at Pine Hills Christian Academy, paints anything from flowers to tigers with the help of a magnifying glass. However, it was not until later in life and after losing most of his eyesight that his longing to paint came to fruition.

‘‘I have always had the urge to paint. I was just never in the right place at the right time,’’ he said.

Havard’s time has finally come. His artwork will be on display at the Gulf/South Art Gallery on Fifth Avenue in McComb through August.

Havard has always been drawn to painting, even from his days at Ole Miss, where he played football for legendary coach John Vaught.

Havard had a painter friend in college who invited him to paint.

‘‘I would go down and be painting just junk and he would be painting these impressive paintings,’’ Havard said.

In 2000, Havard suffered an allergic reaction to medication and was cast into darkness. ‘‘I went from 20/20 vision in about three days to completely blind,’’ he said.

He has since undergone 23 eye surgeries to gain partial sight in one eye. His hopes of ever picking up a paintbrush seemed to vanish along with his vision.

Then one day Havard and his wife, Dianne, drove to the post office. While out and about they noticed a crowd of parked cars. Being in a town where everybody knows what’s happening, curiosity got the best of Havard.

‘‘I looked in the window and saw all the people in the room. So I boldly walked to see what was going on,’’ he said. ‘‘They said they were having art class, which I didn’t know anything about.’’

After socializing with the crowd a bit he was invited to attend the classes. Havard declined to participate, saying he couldn’t even draw a straight line. But his wife could see past the initial resistance and offered to pay for the classes, he said.

‘‘She knew I wanted to do it. She paid for about a month, and by that time I was totally hooked. Just loved it, you know, and got into it,’’ Havard said.

The art classes, taught by Tennie Roberson, helped shape his style, Havard said.

‘‘I was like a 61-year-old kindergarten student when I started painting. I knew nothing about technique or painting whatsoever. She was very patient and helped me a lot,’’ he said. ‘‘Her patience is what helped me the most.’’

To paint while nearly blind requires patience on Havard’s part to overcome obstacles the average painter does not face. For instance, he has to hold the magnifying glass in the hand most painters use to steady the painting hand, Havard said.

‘‘So I have to be very careful because I can’t brace myself when I paint. That is a little difficulty I have to deal with,’’ Havard said. He has to paint sitting down because long spells with a magnifying glass cause dizziness when standing.

Despite the adversity, Havard has been busy preparing enough items for the gallery show. All the painting at the exhibit are for sale. That’s something Havard, the father of two daughters and the grandfather of two, had mixed feelings about.

‘‘Once you paint them, it’s like children, you hate to let them go,’’ he said.

Even when the gallery show is over, Havard will continue to pursue his passion for painting for as long as possible.

‘‘I just totally enjoy it. The only reason I’ll ever quit is if my vision gets so bad I’ll have to quit,’’ he said. ‘‘That would be the only reason I quit.’’

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Information from: Enterprise-Journal, http://www.enterprise-journal.com