84 artisans offer works at butler's 46th holiday show

YOUNGSTOWN

After a horrific automobile accident left nearly her entire body shattered, Berni Koczwara did more than just make the best of a bad situation.

She learned to make beauty.

Driving to work at the General Motors plant in Lordstown one morning in 2001, Berni came upon a car that was stopped in the right lane of the highway. The driver of the parked car thought she was on the berm and had stopped there to sleep, not realizing she was actually on the road. Berni swerved but couldn’t avoid a collision.

Rescue workers had to cut Berni out of her car; she had suffered severe injuries to her legs, hips and left arm.

“The only thing she could move was her right arm,” said Berni’s niece, Carol Ostheimer. “So she used that and started painting.”

She created such beautiful works that her very first painting was accepted for display in a juried exhibit at the Butler Museum of American Art here. It was an oil painting of a restaurant in Williamburg, Va., where George Washington once dined. Berni had recently visited Williamsburg, and painted the scene from memory.

Berni, 86, of Poland, has done 52 more paintings since then. Her works are generally Victorian-themed, and each contains a horse and sleigh, which has become the signature of her artwork. She was one of 84 artisans whose works were on display today at the Butler’s 46th annual Art & Artisan Show. The event will also be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday.

Read more about the event and its artisans in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.