Art in the Park began 37 years ago with a handful of artists selling their works on the Square. It was sponsored by the Medina County Arts Council and it was an immediate success. Since then, it has evolved into Medina’s premier summer event, attracting artists from across the country and thousands of spectators and shoppers.

Sunday, July 18 was hot, as it is every year for Art in the Park  — although it didn’t rain as it has frequently in the past. The smell of roasting hot dogs permeated the air, (Kiwanis had set up their concession stands), and there was — as always — the delightful anticipation of finding a treasure to purchase from the 130 artists set up in bright white tents that spread throughout the entire park like a Bedouin encampment.

The show, which was juried, was judged this year by Scott Ligon,  professor at the Cleveland Institute of Art and an acclaimed digital artist.

The awards were:

Best of Show: Josh Rush for his oil painting.

Traditional, 1st through 3rd: Kathleen Green (oil painting), Sharon Borror (watercolor) and Doug Lehnhardt (acrylic)

Non-traditional: 1st through 3rd: Leo Charette (photography), Sharon Stolzenberger (painting) and Sandy Kephart (fiber).

Functional: 1st through 3rd: Paul and Debra Bahm (wood), John Smothers (wood) and Elaine Lamb (ceramics).

Non-functional: 1st through 3rd: Bob Pozarski (glass), Joe Leonard (wood) and Richard Ruehle (wood).

Here are some of the sights:

Painted and quilted fabrics were colorful and profuse.

Perennial favorite, Elaine Lamb offered ceramic ware embossed with her distinctive sgraffito trim.

Wood sculptures came in interesting sizes and shapes. This one, designed for a garden, was particularly distinctive.

This very artistic metalwork attracted a great deal of attention.

As did the beautiful stained glass.  There was glass ware of all kinds, from the functional to the wearable.

And of course, there were paintings in great profusion– oil, water color acrylic. Which was, of course, how it all began, 37 years ago.

A view from the north side of the Square.

Cindy Allman paints a view

The French Impressionists popularized the practice of painting “en plein air” — in the open air — in the mid-nineteenth century.  These artists, considered radicals in their time, were intrigued by the momentary, transient effects of sunlight on objects, and on the changing qualities of light as the day progressed from morning to afternoon. They abandoned their studios and set up easels on river banks and meadows,  on beaches and in wooded glens — and in the process, changed art forever.

A local group of  artists called the Plein Air Painters of the Western Reserve have adopted this time-honored tradition.  They show up every Wednesday morning at nine A.M., May through October, at a designated Medina County park and  paint industriously until noon.

On this hot, sunny morning in May, the Plein Air Painters, swathed in wide-brimmed hats and long-sleeved shirts have gathered at River Styx Park in rural Medina County and set up easels in shady, secluded areas. They are working in a variety of mediums — oil, watercolor, acrylic and pencils.

“We are shooting for a moment in time,” explains Cindy Allman, the award- winning Medina artist and art instructor who organized the group a year ago. “We have to work quickly because the light is constantly changing. I like to paint on sunny days because there’s high contrast and interesting shadow patterns.”

She gestures toward the oil painting of a barn on her canvas.  “The shadow on this roof has been getting shorter and shorter as the morning progresses,” she observes.

She has had experience in working fast.  After graduating from the Pittsburgh Institute of Art, she worked as an illustrator and commercial artist. “Not only did we learn to work quickly, but we had to learn to edit.  Less is more,” she observes.”

Dave Fawcett

Dave Fawcett , another award -winning artist (he won first place in the Aquarius Art show sponsored by the Medina County Art League this past February) hides in the deep shade and works on a view of the lake. He retired from banking ten years ago and has, since then, devoted himself to art.

“This is such joy,” he says.  “I love working outside. And I like being with all these people.  I’m traveling in excellent company.”

He works so quickly that he has completed one painting by 10:30 and is contemplating a second one. The first painting is so realistically rendered that the canvas seems to blend in with the actual scenery.

Now he is faced with a decision. “I’m thinking of doing something more abstract with the second painting, he says. ” He explains that his work is moving more and more into the abstract realm.

On the other hand, he might just wipe the first canvas clean and start over. “It’s the journey that’s important,” he says.  “If we’re not wiping off, we’re not learning.”

Lee Beuther

Lee Beuther of Brunswick  is another regular member of the group. Her first art instructor was the celebrated Medina water- color artist, Fred Graff.  She recalls that he too was fond of painting out of doors.  He called it “painting on location.”

She has since moved on to acrylics and oil.

“Painting is very therapeutic for me,” Lee admits.  ‘I don’t think a lot about what I’m doing.  I just flow along with it.”

Cindy Allman’s paintings are available at Gramercy Gallery, 221 South Court St., Medina.  Dave Fawcett and Lee Beuther’s work is available at Art 101 Gallery, 23 Public Square, Suite 11, Medina.

Plein Air Painters of the Western Reserve schedule for May:

May 19 — Fortier Park, Olmsted Falls, 9 A.M. – noon

May 26 — Public Square, Medina,  9A.M. -noon

May 27 — Geig”s Apple Orchard, Seville,  6:30 P.M. – sunset

No Charge.  New artists welcome.

"Feathered Friend" by Paula Banks currently on exhibit.

February falls under the astrological sign of Aquarius, hence the Medina County Art League’s designation for their annual show of works by member artists.  Approximately 64 area artists are currently exhibiting over 100 works in oil, watercolor, acrylic, ceramic, jewlery, photography and mixed media.

Bath artist Lawrence Churski, president of Churski Gallery, 3850 Granger Road, Bath, Ohio, judged the show.  The results are:

Best of Show:   David Fawcett

First Place:        Frank Geric

Second Place:   Kathleen Digney

Third Place:       Barbara Zimmerman

The show, held on the third floor of the Medina County District Library Main Branch, located on the southeast corner of Public Square (210 South Broadway) runs from February 5 – 26.

Marge describes the inspiration for the painting which is rendered in watercolor and Perma Pencil ( artists’ quality colored pencils.)

“I painted it after returning home from my daughter’s house where I spent time with her two very rambunctious boys, age two and three.  I thoroughly enjoyed watching them and playing with them and marveling at their constant motion, bouncing up and down, jumping all around — unlimited energy.  After I got home, quite exhausted after spending a week with them, I tried to express their movement and my joy at being with them.”

Otley is well-known in the area for her award-winning and widely exhibited abstract art. Trained as an art teacher, the Michigan native has studied at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis and with Medina’s water-color guru, Fred Graff.  It was a class in a Detroit suburb, however, that pushed her onto  the path of abstract art.

“I came into this class and everyone was doing abstract art,” she recalls. “All I had ever done was realism.  This abstract art was  foreign to me, bewildering.  But everyone there was obviously well trained and talented.  They knew what they were doing.  So I tried it.  And I became hooked.”

She explains the difference.  “With realism, I always know where I’m going and I usually know when its done.  With abstract art, the paint and I just work together.  Sometimes it leads the way.  I never know where it’s going to end up, but it’s always an adventure.”

Lisa Bond of Art 101 Gallery

Bond, ( below at left)  surrounded by some of the most  exciting art in the area, greets guests at the gallery opening. A recent arrival in northeast Ohio, she owned an art gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona for 22 years.

After the pottery has been painted, it is fired up and ready to be delivered over to you one week later.

A Holiday Open House at the home of Mud Mothers Pottery owner, Elaine Lamb featured the work of several area artisans.

For the slide show of offerings, click here.

Elaine Lamb founded Mud Mothers Pottery in 1975.  It remains a Medina institution…

“The name Mud Mothers is so seventies,” Elaine observes.

But at the time it was very appropriate.  She and a friend, Sarah Jane Ingraham, were both mothers of young children and were both drawn to the delights of turning mud into beautiful pots.  Eventually, the friend moved on to other interests, but pottery became Elaine’s passion and life’s work.

“Even as our world moves to a global economy with ever-advanced technologies, our spirit is still moved by the hand-made piece. The mark of the hand remains essential to our personal expression,”  Elaine says.

After studying at the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, North Carolina,  her style evolved into a carving process called “sgraffito”.  The clay, after being carved, is painted with ceramic underglaze stains and bisque fired.

“I tell stories in clay,” she says.  “There are images I carve over and over again — things that have significance for me, like books, wine glasses, coffee cups…”

For many years Elaine owned a successful studio/gallery in Medina’s historic district.  Currently she divides her time between a sunlit studio behind her restored Victorian house, and her North Carolina mountain retreat where she has a second home and studio.

She can be reached at enlamb@verizon.net.

The Largely Literary Theater Company’s performance of  “A Christmas Carol” on Sunday December 6, in  St. Paul’s Episcopal Church lacked the 3-D pyrotechnics of the version currently running in the cinemas, but was undoubtedly closer to Charles Dickens’ original vision. The 1884 Gothic Revival church with its arched ceilings and stained glass windows was an appropriately Victorian setting for the British writer’s tale of the evils of selfishness and greed transformed into a Christmas Day redemption

The Largely Literary Theater Company consists of three actors –Tom Stephan (Scrooge), Sarah Showman (15 different characters) and Mark Dawidziak (Charles Dickens).  They perform  on a stage equipped with a minimum of props, and remain faithful to every word in Dickens’ short novel.

The performance was a benefit for the Scholarship Fund of the American Association of University Women (AAUW). The organization awards two scholarships annually to non-traditional women students.

For more information about the performers, click here:

left to right:

Tom Stephan (Scrooge) is a retired English and drama teacher who has appeared in numerous productions with the Akron Weathervane Theater and the Ohio Shakespeare Festival at Stan Hywet Hall.

Sarah Showman (15 different characters) is the general manager of the group and holds a degree in acting and directing from Kent State.

Mark Dawidziak (Charles Dickens), the artistic director of The Largely Literary Company,  is also the television critic at the Cleveland “Plain Dealer”.  He is the author of several books and  plays Mark Twain in the troupe’s “Twain By Three”.  He is married to Sarah Showman.