 The
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Recurring
Events ... Don't
Miss These Coming Events ...
Some
of our Past Events ...
Solo
Exhibit by Paul Spangler December
2008 Children’s 2008
Summer Art Workshops Palestine Art Guild2008 Workshop
Series 4th Annual Art Banner Walk Watercolor
Workshop
with Jerry Smith Arleta
Pech Workshop |
Art
Center Gallery Schedule ... PAG Monthly Show Mary Lee Shaw
Exhibit Cleo
Hightshoe Solo Exhibit Nora
Lee Buntin Solo Exhibit Associated Artists
of Central IL Show Dixie
Petticrew Solo Exhibit
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Around the Area ... CCA
Spring Show Celebration:
A Festival of the Arts Wabash
Valley Art Guild
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China
Art, from Formal to Whimsical When Mary Lee Shaw, Palestine, sets the table, she has a lot of herself invested in the china. Her paintings on china can be seen in a special exhibit at the Palestine Art Center Main Gallery, 110 S. Main, Palestine, throughout the month of May. Shaw's work ranges from whimsical play china sets to formal table settings and china collections as hanging art. Flowers, fruits, and country scenes on antique porcelain china is what Shaw loves best to work on. A special oil-based mix of color is what she applies to the pieces. She began china painting in the 1970s with private lessons from former Palestine resident Martha Browning. She then took a "30-year sabbatical" and resumed lessons again in 2005 with Shirley Wilkins, Vincennes. She admires the work of artists Jean Sadler and Helen Humes in florals, Marcella Wing in fruits and George Kovach's landscapes. As a small child, Shaw was often sketching and designing clothes for her paper dolls. She also recalls spending time as a child watching her mechanical engineer father at his drafting table. "My father was a mechanical engineer for 30 years at the Texaco refinery. He received many awards for his drafting and designing as maintenance supervisor," recalled Shaw. "I could sit for hours watching him at his drawing board... so precise." She jokes that she has acquired the less precise version of his creative genes. "The saying in the plant was, 'If you need something and cannot find it (manufactured), tell Chet and he will design and make it," Shaw said. "Though I would love to make my living at painting on fine porcelain, there is not much call for the skill (with modern manufactured china), so it remains a hobby," she said. "When I entered junior-high school art classes, I had to complete extra work to maintain an A. My art teacher, Miss Virginia Jones, told me she hoped I was not considering art as a profession and she continued to say to me that, in her opinion, I had no talent." A native of Lawrenceville and a graduate of Lawrenceville High School, Shaw also holds degrees from Vincennes University, Eastern Illinois University and Lincoln Trail College School of Nursing. She worked as a certified school nurse in Palestine schools for 15 years, was nursing supervisor and infection control nurse at the United Methodist Village in Lawrenceville for 23 years. She is certified in Gerontology and Rehabilitation. Shaw has five children including Cheryll Douglas, Harold Beckes, Jackie Shaw, Cindy Allee and Chester Beckes. Besides the current show at the art center, Shaw has exhibited her work for two years at the Palestine Wine and Art Festival in October. Shaw's artistic and creative talents along with her sense of humor are evident in the free public exhibit on display in Palestine. The Art Center is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday with entrance through the Main Street Bistro.
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