Watercolor Paintings by Mary Zywar

Ask Mary Zywar what is her favorite subject to paint and you will get without hesitation, “children!”. The Holden watercolor artist has been involved with both painting and children since she double majored in Elementary Education and Art at Marietta College in Ohio. Her experience teaching first grade, and both elementary and high school art has fused those two aspects into a lifelong obsession of painting children.

Now retired, she spends her days in a backyard art studio she calls “Laurelwood Studio”. She learned watercolor painting at Marietta College from Professor William Gerhold. While Gerhold’s specialty was painting landscapes, over the years Mary developed into a portrait artist. Color is her mechanism. The dry brush is her instrument. Her quest is to capture the endearing exuberance of children using reflective light in an unexpected use of color. She will paint teapots, flowers, fabric and an occasional building or pond but she inevitably returns to painting children. Her paintings have been in a Philadelphia international exhibition and she is a signature artist of the Northeast Watercolor Society. She lets her paintings speak for themselves.

Save the Date

Join us for a joint reception with the artists on Thursday, July 9, from 6-7 pm. Enjoy light refreshments and speak with the artists. All are welcome. No RSVP required.

Contact the Reference Desk with exhibit questions: 508-210-5569 or [email protected]

Poetry and Photo Art by John Zywar

John Zywar loves pursuing his interest in photography based art with deep digital post processing. This passion grew out of a 4H program in black and white photography which included darkroom experience when he was in high school. Transforming his own photographs into artistic images through digital means is a current area of exploration. He always begins with his own photographs and expands his vision using layering, masking and generative techniques within software from Apple, Adobe and Topaz Labs.

A current project combines both poetry and photographic art. Many pieces on display at this exhibition are an attempt to interpret the intricate architectural designs at The Ridges – a repurposed insane asylum in Athens Ohio. The Ridges now houses an art museum at Ohio University where he received an MBA in 1978. His link with the old Ohio asylum stems from his two summers working at a similar building, Northampton State Hospital, as an impressionable teenager. A poem about his feelings walking into the entrance to The Ridges has recently been published in the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library’s annual literary magazine, So It Goes. That poem is included in this exhibition. A photo of a nicely barred asylum window has appeared in the University of Akron’s literary magazine Rubbertop Review. Two photos of Ridges architecture were published in Welter Magazine of the University of Baltimore. Another two photos were published in the New Ohio Review. Both a poem and photos have been published by Dipity Literary. Heavy post processing of these architectural features are a current obsession. The Civil War Era architecture provides a playground for heavy manipulation using layers, symmetry and semi-symmetry to create images beyond the normal photographs. Some may find images reminiscent of Escher, Dali or Marguerite.

Other non-insanity related photos have appeared in Massachusetts Audubon and in various literary/art publications including Burningword Literary Journal, The Poetry Society of New Hampshire’s Touchstone, The Closed Eye Open, 3Elements Review, Stonecrop Magazine, Wild Roof Journal, and Beyond Words Literary Magazine. Nature photos, including birds, can also be found in this exhibit. The photos can be realistic standard photography or can be blended and manipulated into a final artistic image. In all cases, the base work is grounded in John’s own photographic images.

Save the Date

Join us for a poetry reading on Tuesday, July 28, from 6-7 pm. All are welcome. Please reach out to the Reference Desk to RSVP.

Contact the Reference Desk to RSVP to the poetry reading or with exhibit questions: 508-210-5569 or [email protected]

Poetry Reading and Open Mic

John Zywar’s writing interest in narrative short stories and poetry stems from his own and relative’s family history stories and interpersonal situations. He is a member of the Worcester County Poetry Association and the Poetry Society of New Hampshire. Poetry has appeared in the PSNH literary publication, A Poet’s Touchstone. He and twelve other Worcester County poets were selected in a Rain Poet competition in 2023 where the winning poets have their poems painted on sidewalks. The poems are only visible when the sidewalk is wet. His work has been included in a 2024 WCPA competition – “Poems in and out of Places”. A poem has been published in the the 2024 annual literary magazine So It Goes by the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. A poem with three related asylum photos has been published by Dipity Literary Magazine in 2025. His two summers spent working in a large psychiatric state hospital colors his view of the inside world. His observations on his mother’s physical deterioration at the end of her life is reflected in his recent writings.

When his retirement came a decade ago, his new “job” was to write down all of the family history stories he had been collecting in his brain before he forgot them. In order to gain some proficiency in his writing, he joined the “Craft of Writing” seminars at Gale Free Library with Jennifer Freed. The seminars helped him become a much improved writer and encouraged him to explore poetry. Some of those stories ended up as published poems. As a writer and photography artist who enjoys dabbling in creative non-standard forms, an example of multi-column poetry is included in this art exhibition. Much of his poetry writing is formatted in multiple columns. He writes in multiple column format to convey a complex story on a single page. Relationships are developed from column to column, sometimes across time and sometimes with a change in voice. If done well, word work may be carried across the columns.

This evening’s readings will be concentrated on poems related to the insane asylum project but will include a poem based on a 1936 photo of his mother assessing the aftermath of a major hurricane in Western Massachusetts. Attendees will be encouraged to read their own poems.

RSVP Requested

Contact the Reference Desk to RSVP: 508-210-5569 or [email protected]