Originally published in The Vidette-Messenger of Porter County on November 6, 1985.
Lewis’ painting larger than life
Lake of the Four Seasons artist Eleanor Lewis’s work is being featured at The Art Barn Gallery, County Road 400E.
Lewis’s paintings include realistic paintings of people and scenes, abstracts, and impressionistic works.
Her Art Barn show features many of her award-winning paintings.
The 216-painting show also focuses on some of Lewis’s larger works.
Over half of the paintings are 3-by-7-feet or 4-by-6-feet. Many of the people in the paintings are life-size and even larger than life.
“I like to bring to people’s attention things they might ordinarily just give a glance,” Lewis said.
So her show includes larger-than-life abstractions of Indian corn and brightly-colored pasteboard boxes, among other things.
It also includes several realistic paintings of people, such as “x and y,” a painting of two of the children at her church.
“An artist is always on the lookout for things of beauty. I saw these children at my church one Sunday, and decided I wanted to paint them.
“But I didn’t want to do a studio portrait. I really like outdoor color, and I wanted the challenge of painting the sunlight, and the way the lights reflected off the children.”
Lewis has won a number of awards. Her work has been featured in one-person shows throughout the state of Indiana, including the Matrix Gallery at Point Library, Indiana University, and the Hoosier Salon of Indianapolis.
Locally, she has been featured in one-person shows at the Chesterton Art League, Porter County Arts League, Porter County Arts Commission, the Northern Indiana Arts Association, and at the gallery at Methodist Hospital.
Her education includes training at the Fort Wayne Art Institute, and a doctorate from Indiana University.
She teaches art and is head of the art department at Merrillville High School, and she has taught children and college students as well.
Lewis’s interest in art started when she was a child. “My father was interested in drawing, and I learned it from him. I guess my interest in art started in my father’s lap.”
That’s the best way for young people to gain a knowledge and appreciation of art, artist and teacher, Lewis said.
“I really think it starts at home. I love to see parents taking their children to art fairs, or galleries, or art demonstrations. The children love it.”
一 by Pat Randle
Painter Eleanor Lewis checks out the painting in her shoe at The Art Barn. Lewis, who lives in Lakes of the Four Seasons, has won numerous awards for her paintings, including winning best of show at the 1981 Porter County Art Fair. The show runs through Nov. 18. (V-M: Rick Taylor)