Mall stores watercolor inspiration

For nearly 70 years Lois Scott Kannensohn has used the soft, rich tones of watercolors to express beautiful things around her.

The mother of four learned to mix colors in order to describe the subtle hues of pink roses in full bloom, as well as the weathered bricks of the wall they clung to. Watercolors and brushes, some as fine and sharp as a pencil tip, have heightened her joy during good times and have given her strength during the hard times of life.

About five years ago the artist began thinking about creating a series of paintings with an architectural theme that no one had fully addressed before. Monticello and the University of Virginia were already taken, but Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall hadn’t been done to the degree that she had in mind.

“My husband, Dave, and I moved here to Charlottesville in 1991, and we just love the mall,” said Kannensohn, who lives just a few blocks from the subject that has held her artistic interests for a half-decade.

“It’s such a friendly place and beautiful, as well. I didn’t know of anyone doing the Downtown Mall, so I started by painting some of my favorite places and also the places that looked particularly interesting to me.

“My favorite painting so far is of the Hardware Store, but doing a painting of the Paramount Theater was wonderful as well. I gradually got the series going, and it has really been fun.”

An exhibit of 14 paintings in Kannensohn’s “Historic Downtown Mall Series” opens today at the UVa Hospital. A reception will be held from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m., with jazz music provided by the artist’s husband and Mike Rosensky.

Since its dedication on July 3, 1976, the Downtown Mall has come to represent the heart of the Charlottesville community. It’s considered one of the most successful pedestrian malls in the nation, and its cheek-to-cheek embrace of past and present is one reason for its popularity.

Look above the first stories of many of the buildings and one sees the same facades people saw a century or more ago. At ground level things are more in flux and that’s where the inevitable change is most noticeable as some businesses close and others open.

Without initially realizing it, Kannensohn’s series has captured the mall during one period of its ever changing existence. Now, with its $7.5 million restoration under way, it begins a new chapter.

The artist has concentrated her efforts on painting the business fronts that line the mall such as Oyster House Antiques, Hamilton’s restaurant and the Charlottesville Ice Park. The New Dominion Bookshop and Nook Restaurant are on her to-do list.

“When I first started the series I would go down to the mall and find something that looked particularly interesting to me,” Kannensohn said as she relaxed in her living room, which is decorated with paintings that she couldn’t bear to part with.

“I’m too old to just stand there and paint something now, so I take lots of photographs from all different angles. Back home I put them together, and then pick the best aspect of the scene, and that’s what I paint.

“I look for balance and particularly color. It takes me a long time to do a painting, because I do a lot of detail work using a triple-zero brush, which is the smallest you can get.”

Because a painting can take Kannensohn six weeks or longer, she said, she has to charge around $1,200 for one. But she also makes giclee prints of her watercolor paintings, and those sell for about $65.

Kannensohn was 9 years old and growing up in Omaha, Neb., when she started taking lessons in watercolor. Although she has made forays into the world of oil painting and studied oil portraiture for four years with famous Nebraska portrait artist Augustus Dunbier, her first and lasting love has been watercolor.

“I like the colors you can get with watercolors better than oils,” said Kannensohn, who has used her artistic gifts to paint everything from clothing to canvas handbags that were marketed through golf and country clubs in the United States and the Caribbean Islands.

“But it has only been in recent times that watercolors have really been accepted. Before it was considered transient, because it would fade, but that’s no longer true.

“The colors in today’s watercolors will last just as long as oils. The reason is that paints today are much better quality, and acid-free paper also has given us better tools to work with.”

Kannensohn said it’s the use of low-grade paper that’s largely responsible for earning watercolors a reputation for being a difficult medium to work with. She also blames inferior paper for frustrating young students being introduced to the medium.

“Many people think working with watercolors is really scary, because if you goof and make a mistake, you will have to throw the whole thing away,” Kannensohn said. “That’s just not true.

“I use really heavy 300-pound press paper and that allows me to paint over a mistake. You can do anything with watercolors you can do with oils.”

Kannensohn is one of the original members of the Central Virginia Watercolor Guild, founded in 1991. The group is open to everyone and meets at 1 p.m. on the fourth Monday of each month at Thomas Jefferson Memorial Church at 717 Rugby Road.

“The guild is a wonderful group, and it’s great for someone who would like to take up watercolors, as well as [for] experienced artists,” Kannensohn said. “Meetings include demonstrations and critiques, which a lot of people need and want.

“Every fall we have an exhibit at the McGuffey Art Center. The guild also has an ongoing exhibit in the Albemarle County Courthouse.”

Kannensohn’s artwork is on permanent exhibit at La Galeria at 218 W. Market St. Gwen Hoyle is the owner of the framing shop, which also serves as a gallery for about a dozen artists.

“When I started the shop seven years ago, I decided it would be a great venue for artists to be able to hang their work,” Hoyle said. “What stands out for me when I look at Lois’ work is her control of the watercolors and how detail oriented it is.

“She has become one of the cornerstones of the downtown art scene, and I think her Downtown Mall series is unique. I’ve seen other artists in our area paint a scene or two of the mall, but Lois has made it a part of who she is as an artist.

“I think in years to come, her paintings are going to be considered right in there with [R.W.] Holsinger and his historic photographs. We’re very lucky to have someone like Lois in our community.”

Charlottesville’s ever-changing Downtown Mall has become Kannensohn’s creative milieu. It also has become a dear partner in her ongoing artistic dialog that finds voice not in words, but in visual images that silently speak of things beyond the apparent.

“Lots of time art is a reason for me to get up in the morning,” Kannensohn said as a bright smile came to her face, and as quickly began to fade. “I lost a son, and I think art got me through that.

“I’ve had one-person exhibits of my work before, but this new exhibit at the hospital is particularly exciting for me. The paintings will be displayed near the cafeteria, so a lot of people will see them.

“Of course, having people look at your work is always a thrill for the creator.”

Details:

Lois Kannensohn’s exhibit, “The Historic Downtown Mall Series,” opens today at the UVa Hospital with a reception from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. It will remain in place through March 6.