Arts Section

City Hall Lobby Exhibit - Honoring Black History Month By Laurie Searle

The winter exhibit in the city hall lobby features two talented local artists who honor Black History Month with their artwork. We asked each artist to share a few words about their experience and selected artwork.

MALINDA LIVELY-ARNOLD – Painting is my favorite thing to do. It’s a meditation, an exercise to keep my mind active as I age, and enhances my appreciation of the beauty that’s everywhere. I began teaching about ten years ago mostly to get my various friends to stop saying how they “can’t draw a straight line” or “always wanted to paint but have no talent”. In my classes we learn the basics about color and then we paint. And like every acquired skill, after that, it’s just practice – and that’s it. Art is for everyone. As humans we all have the innate ability to express ourselves through art.

I have painted many subjects over time. Everything in the natural and human-made world is of interest to me, but in the past few years, portraits have become my main subjects. Human faces reflect our vast differences according to ethnicity, environment, age, physical attributes, and skin tones. The thing to remember is that our skulls and general bone structure are identical, and at this level “racial” differences are undetectable. As painting subjects go, I think most painters would agree that portraiture is the most challenging and humbling, with that quality of “likeness” being very elusive.

The paintings here represent various studio studies over the past two years of remarkable leaders and scholars for whom I have great admiration.

ELIZABETH GLOVER – As a digital artist, I wanted to get better at creating artwork digitally. I learned that the professional digital artists I looked up to had painted traditionally first. So, in an effort to increase my skill, I picked up painting a little over a year ago (specifically oils).

I love painting portraits and figures. Eventually, I would love to paint more elaborate compositions like Norman Rockwell or Phil Hale.

For me, art is the constant pursuit of something greater. A never-ending journey to create or to do something beyond yourself. It's taking inspiration from your surrounding environment and turning it into something tangibly yours. In a sense, every ambition is an art. From the meticulous stroke of a brush to the compelling words of a salesman. Art is a broad term in my opinion, and very hard to put into words.

In my belief, I haven't even begun to create the works I would like to put into the world. Don't get me wrong, I love every piece I am exhibiting, and they have a special room in my heart. But to me, they are the first stepping stones to what I hope to accomplish: That being to take the nonsense inside my head into full reality. Though, I believe all artists have that feeling, professional and beginner. So perhaps even after a million steps, there is no "top" to reach. Even so, I'll continue to climb them to see how far I can go.

Adrienne Anbinder, Malinda Lively-Arnold, Greg Blount, Morgan Boszilkov, Logynn B Ferrall, Gail Foster, BJ Glick, Vinayak Godbole, Wanda Hughes, Ann Jackson, Mary H Johnson, Pamela Kamor, Cindy Lederman, Robert Lederman, Julie McKinney, Brandon Murphy, Ken Shepard, Mary Shepard, Karin Slaton, Lea Ann Slotkin, Tom Swanston, Judy Walker, Renae “R.D. Simmons” Walker, Eileen Wilson 9057 Selborne Lane & Paint Space, 10625 Serenbe Lane Unit A www.chatthillsgalleryserenbe.com