An Artist on Display

Artist Peri Schwartz will be featured in the Port Washington Public Library's newest exhibition, entitled Working with the Grid, until Jan. 31.

Schwartz, who studied at Boston University's School of Fine Arts, and continued on to receive her Masters in Fine Arts from Queens College, said she always knew she wanted to be an artist. "I have wanted to be an artist since I was very little," Schwartz said. "I was very determined to do art as my profession. I would tell people that was what I was going to do."

The exhibit demonstrates the technique of working with grid. Basically, the grid method is nothing more than overlaying a grid onto an original image that an artist wish to paint, and then placing a matching grid pattern on the canvas.

"The grid is a series of vertical and horizontal lines that are traditionally used for organizing the painting or used for resizing an image," said Barbara Applegate, director of the Hillwood Art Museum, who interviewed Schwartz at the library last week.

"The difference in my use of the grid is that I paint it in while I am creating the painting," said Schwartz, who works within different mediums such as oil paint, charcoal, pastel and mono-prints.

The interview touched on the artist's process, influences and techniques. Schwartz went on discuss the masters that influenced her work and how she searches for the balance of realism and abstraction in her work.

"The precision of the drawing is essential — just as a musician or dancer uses the structure of the notes," Schwartz said. "I believe that the discipline of getting the proportions right brings harmony to the work."

Applegate tried to show those in attendance the influences that great masters such as Raphael, Rembrandt, Vandyke, Degas and Cezanne have had on Schwartz through a slideshow comparing their work.

"In Schwartz's work, the grid is peeking back at us, reminding us that it is just a two-dimensional drawing," Applegate said.

Schwartz's love of art, and more specifically the grid, became even more apparent when she spoke of the paintings in the slideshow. She even lit up with excitement at one point when talking about the diagonals and repetition within the paintings.

"I was always very adamant about doing art." she said. "I really enjoy doing art as my profession."

Video of the interview was taken, and the footage will be in the gallery along side Schwartz's work.

Shellie Schneider, a member of the Port Washington Art Advisory Committee, first discovered Schwartz's work at the C.W. Post Gallery. "I happened to be there looking at someone else's work, but I was hit by her paintings," Schneider said.

Schneider was integral in bringing Schwartz to the library as the committee, made up of 18 volunteers, decides which artists a featured in the gallery. "The artists either apply on their own, or are brought in by board members," Schneider explained. "The work is then viewed by the board and decided on through voting."

Many who have attended the show said they were enthralled by Schwartz's work. "The still lifes are much more abstract then the portraits," said Jerry Halm, a Port Washington resident who frequents the library and paints as a hobby. "She is very comfortable in breaking down forms and does a good job at it."