By Greg Ellison

(Feb. 10. 2022) Artists Betty Latourney, Lisa Mitchell and Isabel Morris will be displaying their oil and acrylic paintings beginning this week at the Ocean Pines Library.

Latourney, who has shown there before, said the 30-odd canvases would be on display and available to purchase through April.

“We would have hung last week but the snow delayed us,” she said.

Latourney, who is approaching two decades at the easel, met Mitchell and Morris several years ago through art instructor Kate Cashman.

“She has an artist’s studio called Random Juxtaposition in Bishopville,” she said.

The three artists recently hatched plans to combine efforts for a three-month library exhibition.

“The three of us paint so differently that it will make a really nice show for the library,” she said.

Despite earlier misgivings, Latourney embraced her creative spirit after she retired.

“I enjoyed art as a young child but never did feel like I could do it,” she said.

After signing up for classes at the Art Institute Gallery in Salisbury, her perspective was altered.

“When I was 60, I went to AIG in Salisbury,” she said.

Latourney credited instructor John Losoncdy for providing inspiration.

“He said if you buy this list of materials, I guarantee you can paint,” she said.

In short order, Latourney acquired the recommended supplies.

“I bought a smock” she said. “In fun I put my name on it and it said artist.”

After attending a few classes Latourney formed a bond with contemporaries.

“The ladies that were in the class just accepted me,” she said. “They understood I didn’t know anything from anything.”

The creative freedom afforded Latourney helped foster her development.

“I decided early on that I didn’t have to be the best. I could just have fun,” she said.

Over the years,  Latourney continued to refine her work by taking classes in Cambridge, Easton and with Ann Coates at Bishop’s Stock Fine Arts & Fine Crafts in Snow Hill.

“I just decided I was going to have fun in the class, and I didn’t have to compete with anybody,” she said.

Shining the spotlight elsewhere, Latourney expounded on Mitchell’s artistic vision.

“She paints beautiful whimsical paintings,” she said.

Latourney said examples include the Statue of Liberty depicted in nearly two-dozen hues, and a flamingo with a frog riding on its back.

“They are minutely painted and very tight inside the lines,” she said.

By contrast, Latourney said Morris tends to exhibit greater realism.

“She was born in Maine and she has painted over the years a lot of Maine seascapes with rocks and waves,” she said. “She lives now in Bishopville and she’s learned to love painting our seascapes.”

As for her own output selected for the show, Latourney is focusing on area-related pieces.

“I’ve been in there at least two other times in last 10 years,” she said. “In this particular show I’m trying to put things that are relative to the Ocean Pines and Ocean City areas.”

Latourney credited current art exhibit coordinator Paulette Mari, who took the reins from predecessor Mary Doellgast in 2016, for invaluable assistance with planning the event.

Several of Latourney’s works also involve ocean and bayfront scenes.

“I do have one painting … Route 90 bridge view from BJs,” she said.

Latourney created the piece, which highlights an osprey nest behind the former restaurant, in August during the Ocean City Art League Plein Air event.

“In the distance you get a glimpse of the bridge,” she said.

Seasonal considerations were also factored in for the art exhibition.

“In one of the rooms we’re going to put some things that are more wintery,” she said.

Included in that number is a cardinal perched on a tree branch during wintry conditions.

“I love to stick cardinals in where I can, but, of course, you can’t put cardinals in an ocean picture,” she said.

Other works feature marsh scenes with herons and a sunset view from Fager’s Island.

“It’s the gazebo at Fager’s island,” she said.

Latourney said all art displayed is available to purchase, with 30 percent  of sales donated to the Ocean Pines Library.

“These are affordable,” she said.

On average, paintings are priced under $200, typically running between $125 to $150.

“Some art show prices are unreachable for the local person,” she said. “This is priced at a price most anybody spends at the grocery store.”

Latourney said the art exhibition also provides an excuse for non-readers to peruse the Ocean Pines Library.

“It’s a beautiful facility and a wonderful place to show because it’s so bright and airy,” she said.