August’s art exhibition in the Activity Room will feature the works of Patricia O’Connor, Louise Pellegrino, and Hedy Sanni. Their works will be on display from August 4th through August 28th. They will be holding a reception on Thursday, August 7th from 4pm to 6pm in the Activity Room. For more information about the artists, please see below.
**Please note: The Activity Room hosts meetings and library events and is not always open for viewing. Please call ahead or check our website calendar to see what’s happening daily.
About Pat:
Art has always been a part of my life. I have been painting for over 40 years in all mediums. I started in oil, have continued in acrylics and for the past 15 years I have been doing watercolor. My personal favorite is watercolor. I enjoy trying to create the subtleties of color, shadow, light and contrast using watercolor. Although I am primarily self-taught I have taken courses over the years at the Boston Center for Adult Education, Lynn Evening School, and North Shore Community College. I studied for three years with Jack Jones. I enjoyed painting on location with Jack Jones’ students in Vermont and various places on the North Shore. My paintings have been in shows in Lynn, Lynnfield, Chelmsford, Ipswich and Topsfield and I have received numerous awards. I have been a parishioner of Our Lady of the Assumption Church since 1968 and an active member of the Lynnfield Art Guild for many years.
For information on any works or commissions, email Pat O’Connor at ptoco@msm.com.
About Louise:
It all began with my dolls when I was a child. Unsatisfied with their faces, I broke out my crayons and transformed them into something far more likeable. And for birthday and Christmas presents, a new paint-by-numbers set was always my first choice.
Following high school, I initially wanted to continue my education at Vesper George, an art school in Boston. But that was not to be. Instead, my parents urged me to study business, which led to a career as a bond underwriter for two insurance companies.
Never losing the desire to paint, I studied with a local oil painter, Marblehead-based artist Ken Hurwitz. Oil proved to be a difficult medium to pursue at home, thanks largely to the lingering odors of linseed and varnish.
In the 90’s, I learned of an amazing artist, Louise Anderson, who offered classes in a difficult medium that would change my life—watercolor! I was hooked. Around that time, a friend who also has a passion for watercolor showed me an advertisement featuring local artist Jane Booras. I was both stunned and inspired by her wonderful work. This was a turning point in my desire and commitment to improve my watercolor skills.
About five of us aspiring artists met at Jane’s home each week to paint, critique each other’s work, and develop our culinary skills by preparing creative lunches. It was a marvelous experience that Jane so kindly hosted.
Always seeking to improve our watercolor skills, we learned of another highly respected and prolific artist, Pauline Bacon, who offered classes at the Lynnfield Senior Center. Pauline was another great inspiration. I’ll always remember her jokingly saying, “I have a fresh eye and a fresh mouth.” She told it like it was and had a way with words.
When Pauline passed, she did not leave us stranded. We were placed in the capable, talented hands of Bill Deveney. Bill is an exceptional artist, and his keen ability to teach and manage a class of sometimes very distracted women is beyond reproach.
Today, I am a member of the Lynnfield Art Guild. Our group regularly displays its artwork at spring and fall art shows, and I enjoy painting weekly at the Lynnfield Senior Center with Bill’s class. Many of my paintings are inspired by travels through Italy and Greece with my husband Paul.
Our art shows enable us to display our work to the public twice a year and sell paintings to local art lovers. I have been fortunate to sell a few through the years and have many watercolor paintings available for sale. You can reach me via email at Pellx2@aol.com, or by phone at 617-799-9098.
About Hedi:
For many reasons, I did not paint in earnest until I was ready to retire. I married young, had the good fortune to give birth to four healthy children and spent 13 years as a busy stay at home mom. In order to fulfill my creative spirit while managing my many domestic and care-giving chores, I taught myself sewing, knitting and gardening while taking art enrichment classes in the evenings including ceramics, drawing and sketching. When all my children were enrolled in school, I worked in administrative positions, ending up on the support staff of Tufts University where I was given the opportunity to take courses as an employee. During my 20 years of service there I accumulated enough credits to earn a BA degree in Art History, and an MA degree in Education. As I learned about the different stages through which the art world progressed stylistically and creatively, my appreciation for all art grew. Throughout my educational journey, I marveled at the talent involved in the creation of sculpture, architecture and the fine art of painting in all mediums through hundreds of years of history.
I decided to try my hand at painting to ease the loss of my husband after a brief but serious illness and to keep my mind busy after I transitioned to part-time work. I liked the feel and freedom of painting in watercolor and manipulating a small amount of pigment with water. I got hooked almost immediately, although I didn’t feel successful at first. Trial and error increased my confidence. For a year or so, I took lessons from the late well-known watercolor artist, Jack Jones. When I found out classes were available from Lynn artist, Pauline Bacon, then her successor, Bill Deveney, I transitioned to see how other experts approached painting with the medium. Being in class with students exhibiting all levels and methods of painting gave me additional confidence and helped me develop skills as I took note of different ways of handling my paints.
I joined the Lynnfield Art Guild in order to continue my journey around like-minded people who take their art seriously. One of the benefits of the Guild is that it gives members this opportunity to place their paintings on a separate webpage within the LAG website. The ones I have put together are all watercolor, and encompass a variety of subject matter, many taken from my own photographs or still life set-ups. My very favorite paintings are buildings (the way light and shade glance off the structures), scenes including water (the change objects encounter as they interact with flowing or still water) and landscapes with the power and variety of green. I have also painted what I consider to be compositional challenges such as glassware, pottery, flower petals and animals. I sincerely hope you enjoy my paintings and would appreciate any comments to be sent to my email address: hedysanni@yahoo.com
