An O’Hara Township artist has an exhibit at the Cooper-Siegel Library in Fox Chapel through February 2023 showing her paintings, etchings and monotype prints inspired by the cattle of a neighboring farm.
The Meinert Farm is only steps from the back yard of artist Paula Garrick Klein. She has focused her painting and printmaking practice on group and individual portraits of these animals, resulting in the exhibit — “Cow Tales at Meinert’s Farm.”
This area of rolling hills and valleys once was populated almost exclusively with small, family-owned farms. When the field closest to the main road was filled and seeded, the small herd appeared from the valley below to graze. Klein uses the field, valley and hills as a backdrop for intimate portraits of specific animals that she observes.
“I am mesmerized with how these animals behave, how they sit, stand and move together. I watch how the mothers care for their calves, protect them, feed them and shield them from others. Through each new season, I observe and paint the newborns, then as they grow, and later as mothers with calves of their own,” she said.
Klein has exhibited paintings and intaglio and monotype prints in galleries in the Pittsburgh region as well as in statewide and national juried exhibitions. Most recently she was invited to exhibit her cow portraits in a solo show at the Erie Art Museum.
Klein is a member of several artist groups, including Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Print Group, and Group A. She holds a Master’s of Arts in Teaching and a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts, both from Rhode Island School of Design in Providence.
Her paintings, prints and drawings can be viewed at www.paulagarrickklein.com.
The Cooper-Siegel Library is located at 403 Fox Chapel Road in Fox Chapel. Library hours are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Sunday, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
