Joe Hornaday
Greensburg Daily News
August 04, 2008 12:45 pm
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Eager artists brought their brushes and pencils to create beautiful works of art using the downtown scenery on Friday, as part of the Arts and Cultural Council of Decatur County’s (ACCDC) second annual “Painting the Town” plein air paint out.
Artists from around the state, and many from Greensburg, took to the square and surrounding neighborhoods, brushes in hand, to create their masterpieces.
Painter Rhonda Bontrager said that she was glad to be able to participate in the event, and she luckily found a shady spot in which to create her painting. Using oil paints, Bontrager had decided to capture the image of the Gorman building on canvas.
“We had a lot of fun last year, so we decided to come back,” she said.
According to ACCDC executive director Lynda Smith, over 20 artists came to experience the wonders of downtown Greensburg. That number was up from last year’s total, and proves that the event is gaining popularity.
For artist Joyce Dempsey, the motivation to come back to the paint out was clear.
“I like to see all of the other artists, and we get to meet with friendly people,” Dempsey explained. “And it’s a lot more fun than being at work.”
Local artist Carrie Adler, the art teacher at Greensburg Community High School, decided to paint the “A Piece of Cake” building, and though she could not attend last year’s paint out, she did find the event to be fun.
“As a teacher, I’d like to be a practicing artist,” she said. “To be a model of what we can do.”
While most of the town’s artists on Friday decided to use paints, Nancy Owens chose to take a different approach. Pastels and charcoal on rough textured pastel paper was her medium of choice.
“It’s good for getting black and white contrast,” Owens said. “And I’m not very good with colors.”
One of the town’s visiting artists, Patrick Kluesner, made the trek to downtown all the way from Anderson. In his first year participating in the Painting the Town event, Kluesner used oil paints to capture the majesty of the courthouse tower tree. He planned to stick around for the painting sale on the courthouse lawn as well.
At the end of the day, the artists were invited to submit their masterpieces for display in the Art on the Square art gallery. The works of art will be on display there for three weeks.
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Greensburg Daily News