Over In Ghent, There's a Paintdemic Going On
The need to do something for his neighbors inspired an artist to create rural murals.
Art galleries and museums may be closed by governmental decree, but there’s no law that prohibits one from exhibiting art out in the open. We’re seeing rainbows on windowpanes and sidewalk chalk drawings that look like stained glass. And in Ghent, New York, there is yard art that artist David Lesako is creating for the benefit of the walkers and joggers, bikers and occasional drivers who can use a day brightener when they bust out of the house for quick breaths of fresh air. Now, horses, a heron, a toad and other assorted animals cavort on his lawn.
Lesako, who moved from a rural area in Pennsylvania with his wife, Miriam Rubin about a year ago, is a landscape artist who works primarily with pastels. Retired from teaching, he paints every day. In fact, he’s done about 40 paintings in just over a year. But, like most of us, he wanted to do something to lighten the psychic load the pandemic is putting on our shoulders. The Paintdemic was born.
“It came pretty quick to me,” he said. “The museums were closing. You can look at exhibits online — I do all the time — but how about doing an outdoor show? Especially now, when there are all kinds of walkers, bikers and joggers going by.” Besides, being a painter is a very solitary profession. Lesako saw that urban artists were doing street painting and murals. Why not a rural mural?
Back in Pennsylvania, Lesako had painted things on the sides of barns, and he considered doing that in Ghent. But his property sits at the corner of County Road and German Church Road, a surprisingly active intersection and such a good spot to set up a freestanding display.
Lesako figured images of animals would be more interesting and fun for kids. He ordered some outdoor exterior paint, the kind you’d use on your porch, and since the color choice was limited, he decided to stick with primary colors. He already had a lot of scrap wood from renovating the barn on his property, so he used that wood to make easels. He’d purchased a bunch of molding from the Columbia County Habitat and ReStore outlet on Route 9 (“it was cheap, a good deal”) that was perfect for frames, and he had a can of gold paint. Voilà —dressy picture frames for each of the paintings.
The paintings on wood are large — the biggest is 4 feet by 8 feet, the smallest 3-feet square — and the turtle is painted on an old door.
His work is being appreciated. Lesako has received socially distanced thank you’s from walkers, and lots of smiles. It’s fun to see families stroll by and drivers slowly roll past and then turn around for a second look.
“I don’t want to look like a crazy man,” he said. “I don’t know how long the paintings will be up for, but last week when we had a storm, they held up through it all.”
Let’s hope the rest of us do as well.
