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Hernando Today

Sun Shines On Fall Art Show

Hernando Today photo by DAVE CASEY

With a pirate creation standing guard, Larry Whidden, a sculptor from Spring Hill, waits to chat with customers Saturday at the Spring Hill Art League’s Fall Festival of Art at the Lake House grounds on Kenlake Avenue.

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By MICHAEL D. BATES

Hernando Today

Published: November 16, 2008

SPRING HILL - Saturday's morning rain showers caused more than a few anxious moments for the dozens of artists setting up displays at the annual Fall Harvest of Art in Spring Hill.

But just about the time the crowds started arriving, the clouds vanished and the sun peeked out, and the sky took on a blue hue that would match anything on an artist's palette.

It was almost like an omen for Doris Brown Low of Timber Pines, who went to the Spring Hill Art League's 35th annual event on a whim.

Low, a former artist who specialized in watercolors, said she came seeking inspiration. She stopped painting two years ago following the death of her husband.

Walking slowly and deliberately along the mulched pathways that wended between artists' booths, Low said she felt the old enthusiasm return.

She intends to take up brush again and return to her artistic ways.

"There's really good painting here, there really is," Low said, as she took a break. "I'm seeing some excellent work."

That feeling was echoed by many people who dropped by the show, held on the wooded grounds of The Lake House overlooking expansive Hunter's Lake.

As always, this was a juried art show that allowed the exhibitors' to compete for prize money.

One of those judges, Jackie Ladrig of Clearwater, was impressed.

Ladrig said she considers three qualities in judging a work of art: "The three Cs: concept, creativity and craftsmanship."

Everything from design to display is important because you're trying to give visitors the illusion they are walking through a mini art gallery, she said.

Talking with the artists displaying their works, it is easy to get caught up in their passion.

Fred Mannarino of Spring Hill, for example, has been painting for 60 years and has a love for "cubism."

As he defines it, cubism reduces the natural form to its basic geometric shape so the viewer can see the front, top, and side views of the painting.

Mannarino, 78, believes his work is not too dissimilar from what Picasso was doing.

Artist Diane Becker has lived in Hernando County for 30 years.

"I was born drawing," she joked.

She refined her "photo-realism" style by attending Washington University in St. Louis.

"I don't want my paintings to look like photos," Becker said. "I want them to look like paintings."

She often works from photos and tries to blend that realistic image with a dash of impressionism.

Becker said there are many art hobbyists in Hernando County - people who enjoy their work and not dependent on it for their livelihood.

For Patricia Ann Ritter, who specializes in mosaic oil paintings, this was her second exhibit at the show. Some of her work is also displayed at the Brooksville City Hall.

"I'm finding more and more an interest in art in Hernando County," Ritter said.

When she is invited to local business receptions, she is frequently asked to bring along her work to show others.

She admits that art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. That was plain judging from the multi-faceted displays present at the show.

"The public has a different definition of what they like," she said. "That's what's nice about this (event)."

The Spring Hill Art league, with more than 150 active members, is one of the largest nonprofit art organizations in Hernando County.

The annual Fall Harvest of Art Show provides the League with funds to award $1,000 scholarships to graduating high school seniors to further their education in the visual arts.

During the last several years, the League has given out more than $15,000 in art scholarships.

The festival continues today from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at The Lake House, 1202 Kenlake Ave., Spring Hill.

Reporter Michael D. Bates can be reached at 352-544-5290 or mbates@hernandotoday.com.

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