(Lititz, PA-LititzDailyNews.com) – As the country grapples with disruptions to daily life due to the coronavirus, Lititz artists have devised a new way to continued to make their mark. And at least one local artist is making a difference for local food banks as well.
Beth Kaylor Brunner is president of the Lititz Art Association, and since the group’s monthly meetings have been curtailed in the face of COVID-19 restrictions, the association came up with a way to keep fellow creatives engaged: “quARTintine.”
“We can’t meet so we are doing a challenge for the next 30 days and doing an element of art per week, she wrote.
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Due to the need to engage in social distancing, the organization offered members an 8-week challenge: create and share with the association at least one piece of artwork per week in whatever medium they choose.
A small acrylic painting by Beth Kaylor Brunner.
Each week has a theme according to the seven elements of art (color, line, value, shape, form, texture, and space). The first element, color, was featured the first weeks and will be featured next week as well. The association posts the pieces submitted by its member artists to its Facebook page.
Brunner’s inaugural creation for the challenge was a colorful work of three daffodils.
“This week and next week is ‘Color’, and I decided to use a split-complement,” she wrote on her Instagram account, where she also posts her work.
She followed with six more florals, all small in size.
A bracelet made by artist Donna Felton as part of a weekly challenge to Lititz artists.
Artist Donna Edson Felton felt inspired by a color palette she saw last year so she “turned a bowl of beads into a bracelet.”
Felton finds the weekly challenges helpful.
“I’ve always worked best with deadlines and now this quarantine can ignite our creativity,” she wrote. Felton works in a variety of mediums–paper, tiles, and jewelry.
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Artist Ashlee Showalter hoped her colorful bouquet would brighten someone’s day. Her modern floral rendition rivals the finest commercial artwork.
“I wanted to take advantage of the color element of this challenge by using the brightest, cheeriest colors I could achieve with my watercolor palette,” she wrote.
Artist: Ashlee Showalter
Vitaly Borisenko has submitted still life paintings to the challenge, including a stunningly realistic painting of two onions on a kitchen towel. He also provided insight into his creative process for the work.
“Deciding which kitchen towel to use, with blue stripes or the red ones, I chose red to match the color spectrum of the onions.”
Brunner has been posting a new small painting daily for the challenge. Other artists have posted less frequently.
An oil painting by Vitaly Borisenko.
Brunner’s next subject for the color challenge was a coral rose, for which she used warm and cool colors. Over the next three days, she painted a different orchid daily.
Brunner announced on her Day 8 painting of a red-orange poppy that she was putting each of the 6” by 6” paintings created for the challenge up for sale on her website, and planned to donate $5 to a local food bank for each painting sold. The paintings are priced at $35 each, and only a few remained at press time.
In addition to the florals, a portion of the sale of her small paintings of Lancaster County farms and a North Carolina lighthouse on the site will also benefit a local food bank.
The association hosts a member gallery with links to websites of the individual artists featured in this story and other Lititz artists as well. Click here to connect with and support local artists.
The Lititz Art Association sponsors the Lititz Outdoor Fine Art Show which is held each summer in Lititz Springs Park. It is currently scheduled to take place on Saturday, July 25, 2020. For more information, or to join the Lititz Art Association, visit their website. 
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Lynn Rebuck is the editor and publisher of award-winning LititzDailyNews.com, the only independent digital news source in Lititz. Lynn is an award-winning photojournalist who was invited to the White House and has received top recognition from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association, Pennsylvania Women’s Press Association, National Society of Newspaper Columnists, and has been profiled in Editor & Publisher magazine for her unparalleled dedication to publishing LititzDailyNews.com to benefit the community.
