Artists paint in great outdoors for Latrobe Art Center show

Latrobe Art Center had a Paint-Out this week, with about a dozen artists scheduled to work “en plein air” around the community.

Their paintings will be shown and sold at the center from Monday through May 1.

With snow forecast on Wednesday and cold temperatures lingering through the rest of the week, some artists decided to get a jump on the event and start painting on Tuesday.

Four artists set up their easels and oils on Spring Street to paint the well-kept houses and manicured lawns and gardens. It was familiar territory for two of them.

“I’ve painted out here more than once,” said Pat Dickun of Washington Township, who was rendering a red brick house fronted by an array of flowering trees.

“I’ve painted this house many times,” said Doreen Currie of Unity, of a brick Tudor with lush plantings. Instead of the house, though, it was the colorful tulip bed that caught her eye this time.

Barbara Kern, a former Derry Area High School art teacher now living in Maryland, set her sights on a towering willow tree.

“Trees are a challenge to paint, because I care about how I want them to look,” she said. “They add drama to the landscape.”

Becky Mormack of Unity taped the word “Squint” below her painting of a white brick house with a flowering dogwood in the forefront.

“When you’re plein air painting, you’re supposed to take your glasses off or squint to blur out the details,” she said, to give the work an impressionist feel.

She said the many-angled roof of her subject was making her work challenging: “If I get the light on the side of the house just right, nobody will notice.”

Shirley McMarlin | Tribune-Review

Becky Mormack of Unity painted a white brick house on Spring Street during the Latrobe Art Center Paint Out.

Participating artists were “strongly encouraged to stay in Latrobe (during the paint-out), since we are the Latrobe Art Center,” said Executive Director Michael Tusay. “We provided a list of favorite suggested spots, but they also were able to pick and choose their own.”

Artists can submit as many works for the show and sale as they are able to paint during the course of the event, he said. They will set their own prices for their paintings, with a portion of any sales to benefit the art center.

Due to gathering restrictions and the short duration of the show and sale, Tusay said, there will not be a formal reception.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays at the center at 819 Ligonier St. For information, call 724-537-7011 or visit latrobeartcenter.org.