Familiar and new featured at annual Butler holiday show

By BOB JACKSON

news@vindy.com

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 is one of 84 artisans whose works were on display Saturday at the Butler’s 46th annual Art & Artisan Show. The event will also be from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. today.

Cynthia Anderson, a docent at the Butler, said the annual holiday event is a fundraiser for the museum, which does not regularly charge admission to visitors. There is a $6 admission charge for the holiday art show.

Judging by the intricate details of Berni’s Victorian paintings, you’d never guess that she never had an art lesson. She simply picked up a brush and started painting during her recovery.

“It’s a God-given talent. It’s nothing I learned,” the humble artist said. “What I see, I put down [on canvas] and paint. It’s just always come naturally in my family.”

Berni’s creations include a number of area historical landmarks, including several in Poland, where she has lived for the past 40 years.

“I like history, and I like the turn-of-the-century period,” she said, explaining why her paintings follow a Victorian theme. She only does three paintings per year, and said her art is what has helped keep her active and vibrant over the years.

“I always tell people that you have to keep busy, mentally and physically,” she said. “I’m slow, but I’m the best boss I could have because I take a lot of breaks. My dining room is my studio.”

In the beginning, Berni didn’t want to sell her artwork.

“They were like her babies,” Ostheimer said.

But when people started showing an interest, and even offering her commissions to paint for them, she changed her tune. Now she sells greeting cards and prints of her works at shows like the one at the Butler.

Anderson said the annual show and sale generally brings back a lot of repeat vendors, who come from as far away as Michigan and New York. But about one-third of the artisans each year are new.

“That’s what people seem to want,” Anderson said. “They want the familiar, but they also want to see something new.”

Among the first-time artisans this year is Chandra Peterson of North Bloomfield in Trumbull County, who makes intricate wood carvings of hummingbirds. It’s an ancient form of Russian art that uses no seams and no glue. Each creation is from a solid piece of white cedar wood.

Peterson has been making her creations for just more than a year, but her work was much in demand Saturday.

“My husband, David, has a friend who does this,” said Chandra, 44. “I saw them and thought they were beautiful, and I really wanted to learn how to do it.”

So, she turned to the Internet and bought an instructional book about how to make the carvings, intending to teach herself. But she wanted to take it further, so she contacted the book’s authors, a couple from Michigan, and they offered to teach her. She caught on quickly.

“My teacher said I’m a natural,” Chandra said.

She said her mom, Barbara Haper, who died three years ago, loved hummingbirds, which was a large part of why she wanted to take up the craft.

“I wish she was here to see this,” Chandra said, her voice cracking with emotion. “She would be so proud of me.”

Anderson said the holiday event is a juried show, which means everything must be handmade by the vendors. Many of the artisans at the show are from the local area.

“There is an amazing amount of talent here,” Anderson said. “When I talk to them and meet with them, I can’t believe the level of skill and passion they have.”

She said the Youngstown chapter of The Daughters of Penelope, a Greek organization, sells Greek pastries at the show each year. The organization uses proceeds to help fund two orphanages in Greece, two local women’s shelters, and several scholarships for women of Greek heritage.

Sarah Jane Kodelko sells crystal creations and uses her proceeds to support the American Cancer Society, Anderson said.

Other works available include leather goods, jewelry, glass work, art and photography, musical instruments, pottery, candles, knives, rugs and food.