Crowds flock to St. Charles Fine Art Show

For Ella Garcea, visiting the 24th annual St. Charles Fine Art Show on Sunday was a way to not only see the creativity of others on display, but a way for her to express her creativity.

The 11-year-old did so through painting a used car donated by the show’s sponsor, St. Charles Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. The paint is washable.

“There’s no limitations on how you express yourself because there’s different people drawing different things,” she said.

The car now is on display at the St. Charles Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership on East Main Street in St. Charles.

Artists from a variety of mediums – including oil painting, digital art, jewelry, photography, glass, printmaking, sculpture and wood – were represented at the two-day juried show that was organized by the St. Charles Business Alliance.

Kwame Boama Mensa-Aborampa of Bolingbrook displayed his acrylic paintings at the show. He was born in the West African country of Ghana.

He has been painting since 1994. His most recent work, “Grandmother’s House,” is inspired by his homeland.

Mensa-Aborampa liked being part of the St. Charles Fine Art Show.

“The St. Charles show was my first-ever show in the country,” he said. “So I decided to come back again and have that experience again.”

His exhibit received an award of merit at the show.

Sue McDowell, who has chaired the show since its beginning – first under the arm of the Downtown St. Charles Partnership and now under the St. Charles Business Alliance – was pleased with the show’s attendance.

“It’s been great, really great, on both days,” McDowell said. “There sometimes is a lull, and then all of a sudden you look and all you see is people. People have come from all over. It really does pull from a big area.”

Artist Skeeter Aschinger of Aurora received a judges award for her free-standing figurative sculptures. Over the years, she has won many awards for her work, including several awards as an exhibitor at the St. Charles Fine Art Show.

“Originally, I started out with faces because I find them very interesting,” she said. “They say a lot without ever saying a word. I started enhancing them in shadow boxes. And then I started collecting pieces of wood that were interesting. I then thought it would be nice to have bodies attached to the heads. They kind of jumped out of the shadow box and became a free-standing sculpture.”

Aschinger is a retired fashion merchandising teacher. Prior to that, she taught art.

Wisconsin-based artist Melvin McGee described his work as “whimsical surrealism.”

“If it can make people smile, it’s a better thing,” McGee said. “Art doesn’t always have to be serious.”

Buffalo, New York, artist Kelsey Merkle was making her debut at the St. Charles Fine Art Show.

“I really like it,” she said. “It’s a cute area, it’s right on the water and we’ve had great weather this weekend. It couldn’t have gone any better. I met a lot of people.”

She has been painting almost her whole life. Her grandmother was a painter.

“So whenever she would babysit me, I would have an art lesson,” Merkle said.