Driveway becomes gallery for Darien art show

Driveway becomes gallery for Darien art show
(http://www.pioneerlocal.com/burrridge/news/2646142,burr-ridge-collage-083110-s1.article)

August 31, 2010

By SANDY ILLIAN BOSCH sbosch@pioneerlocal.com

The annual Darien Fest produces quite a bit of traffic past the home of Laura Lein-Svencner. Just a couple of years ago, she found a way to make good use of it.

An artist, Lein-Svencner decided to turn her driveway into an outdoor art exhibit two years ago. As visitors made their way to and from the festival just around the corner, they stopped by Lein-Svencner's driveway to observe, admire and even buy her work and the work of fellow local artists.

Now that the event is an event in itself, it no longer needs to ride the coattails of the local festival. Instead, it's traditionally held the first weekend in September. This year's Third Annual Outdoor Studio Exhibit runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 3-5, weather permitting, at Lein-Svencner's home, 6718 Dale Road.

Along with Lein-Svencner's collages will be drawings and prints by Doris Lein of Yorkville and handmade jewelry by Nancy Cole of Naperville. Other artists might join them, transforming an asphalt driveway into an outdoor art gallery.

"We complement each other well, I think," Cole said of the artists gathered for the weekend show.

As their names might suggest, Lein and Lein-Svencner are cousins. They've created art together since they were children. That's also when Lein-Svencner got her start in collage, although at the time, she was just decorating the teacher's bulletin board.

"They would give me carte blanche," the creative youngster, now an accomplished professional artist, said.

Her penchant for turning paper into works of art solidified when she took a collage class 15 years ago. Several years later, in 2003, she founded the Midwest Collage Society as a means of sharing her art, and learning more about it.

Paper continues to be the primary material in Lein-Svencner's pieces, but her definition of paper is wide, encompassing everything from blueprints to greeting cards, phone books to paper bags.

Her series "Faceless People" also makes prominent use of tiny wooden, jointed dolls, as well as strings she used to sew together pieces of paper. The five pieces, in varying sizes but sharing muted tones, reflect on what Lein-Svencner sees as an impersonal society. All five will be for sale at the Outdoor Studio Exhibit.

Also on display at the exhibit will be Lein-Svencner's series "13 Moons." Inspired by the children's book 13 Moons on Turtle's Back by Joseph Bruchac, the series travels through a year's worth of full moons, examining the changes that take place as nature progresses through the seasons. The original works, as well as prints of each of the 13 pieces, will be for sale.

Showing people what she has done isn't enough for Lein-Svencner. From 1 to 3 p.m. each day, she also will show people how she does what she does during free collage demonstrations.

Artists typically don't like to replicate each other's work, but the Outdoor Studio Exhibit is an idea Lein-Svencner would like to see mimicked by other local artists. She envisions a day when art lovers can travel from lawn to lawn, driveway to driveway, in a weekend full of outdoor exhibits throughout Darien.

"There just aren't enough places to see art," Lein-Svencner said.

Lein-Svencner's Outdoor Studio Exhibit will take place at 6718 Dale Road, located east of Clarendon Hills Road and north of Plainfield Road. Admission is free.