Kay Majka presents a one-woman art show

As one of her art teachers, I am very proud of the one- woman art show Kay Majka is presenting to the people of Madison County at the Chamber of Commerce Conference Room. She has over 30 paintings on display ranging from delicate beautiful flowers to scenes of our county area. I did not know until recently that Kay’s mother was a florist which I am sure accounts for her great love of flowers.

The art class from the Madison County Senior Center has been invited to Kay’s home to do some outdoor painting. Her home was beautifully landscaped with flowers and trees in just the right places. Bob, her husband of more than 50 years, sculpts the beautiful surroundings and has created a wonderful place for her to paint year around.

It wasn’t until she retired in 2001 that she had time to pursue art for herself. As with many of the seniors, creating serious art had to be put on a back burner for a time. When family duties were not consuming most of her time she took some watercolor classes under Karen Leonard of the Artful Dragon Studio in Burton. Kay was hooked. After moving to the London area, she took some acrylic tole painting classes under Lynn Ray. She enjoyed it very much but had trouble just following a pattern, she wanted more freedom to express herself.

I was teaching an art class at the Madison County Historical Society and she began lessons in a more freestyle of painting. She found a lot of freedom of expression in this particular atmosphere where people enjoy working in many different art medias. My philosophy is that you can make a mess and still come up with something beautiful. My point of view, then and now, is the objective of a class is not so much to learn about painting technique but to enjoy the act of painting and technique and style will come as a natural result of accepting different creative challenges.

Kay is having a “Meet the Artist” opening reception from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, in the main conference room at the Madison County Chamber of Commerce at 730 Keny Blvd. in London. Her exhibit will be there for the months of May and June. This is a great opportunity for anyone who likes beautiful art to experience Kay’s world and see what type of creativity is being generated at the Madison County Senior Center classes from 9-11 a.m. on Fridays. The painting class is as much social as it is serious painting. There’s a lot of talking and laughing in that class and everyone offers a lot of encouragement to all those who join with us. Creative expression is what it is all about.

Harry Croghan is an artist, photographer, writer and teacher. You can send comments to croghan@dragonbbs.com or call (740) 852-4906.