The pace of browsers at Sunday afternoon’s well attended Artists ’round the Square exhibit was leisurely, in tune with live, ‘easy tempo’ guitar music and warm, humid weather. As always, some visitors rounded the square more than once, narrowing down their choices for the People’s Choice award voting box.
Perhaps the most colorfully attired artist was Village La Zamora resident, Joal Litavsky, who displayed bold scenic plein air acryllics and oils and some stylized paintings on stretched silk.
Full-time Village of Belvedere resident, Jay Summers, originally from Exeter, U.K., described her jazz musician series of acryllic paintings as abstract realism. Some panels were bright, others shaded. The jazzy works would be decorative alone, and several, hung together, would make an interesting wall grouping for a music-lover.
Diana Crow kept busy at the Square painting a Villages scene while passersby viewed her oil paintings. The Village of Country Club Hills resident has painted 63 different views from around The Villages, which are popular with residents. “Visitors also take them home as souvenirs of their visit,” Diane said. “They especially like the smaller paintings and greeting cards, because they fit into their suitcases.”
Artist Ron Kucinski, a Village of Glenbrook resident, was discussing his acryllic scenes of New York state’s Adirondack Mountains with Gayle Bethel, who is currently renting a home in the nearby Village of Del Mar. Both have fond memories of that cool and scenic northern area.
Village of Alhambra resident, Wendy Lahey, is best known within the art community for her watercolor paintings of flowers and crystal vases. ButSunday, she was also showing some scenic works from Europe. “I like to paint villages as well as flowers,” Wendy said, “and I don’t only mean THESE Villages. I mean quaint village scenes from Europe and around the world.”
A steady stream of people continued to arrive at the square as others left after casting their votes. “Every artist here is really good, really very good,” said Myron Gittel, from Akron, Ohio, who was here visiting his ‘Uncle Max.’ “It makes voting doubly tough,” he said. “We didn’t expect to see an art show when we rode over the bridge — there’s always something interesting happening here.”