June Art Show-Sara Gondwe (Opening-June 4th after church)
Born in 1949 in Beaver Dam, WI, Ms. Gondwe earned a B.A. degree in Philosophy and a Masters degree in Education. This earned her a career as a Reading Specialist for students in kindergarten through 12th grades. She spearheaded both the Gettysburg Area reading council and the Adams County Literacy Council in PA. Currently she is a volunteer literacy tutor with Literacy Volunteers in Charlottesville.
She and her late husband, a native of Malawi, lived in this small Central African country for 3 years. The influence of the bright and festive colors of Malawi and Senegal are evident in her art. Ms. Gondwe moved to the Charlottesville area in 2013 to fulfill a long held desire to create. Retirement inspired and challenged her to begin painting. In Ms. Gondwe’s words:
“Art for me is a process of experimentation, discovery, design, motion, texture and color. My goal is to create art that is inspiring and a delight to the eye of the viewers. I create with a Mixed Media genre new to the Art World, i.e., using melted crayons and metallic fabric paint. Shaving crayons onto a 2’x3′ canvas, a household iron is used to melt, combine and shape the colors into a design. The iron becomes a paint brush. Flowers, trees, water and abstracts are her mantra. Bright colors, along with a 3-D effect, culminate in a work of art. Within the same painting, one viewer will see a lion or a dragon while others see a face, flower or a tree. Have fun imagining what you see in the paintings!”
Ms. Gondwe’s art work has won numerous awards, including, Best in Show at the Fluvanna County Art Association’s annual show in 2016. Her painting, “March of the Dancing Zebra Trees” was noted by the judge for its unique style of painting. She has also won numerous awards with the Fluvanna County Faire in 2015 and 2016.