Flowery artwork on display for Mother’s Day

By ERIC SEIVERLING

eseiverling@yourmvi.com

Flowers might be the standard Mother’s Day gift, but Monongahela artist Helen Putnak Kish has put her own spin on the beloved holiday.

Kish, an accomplished artist and a retired Ringgold School District English and art teacher, spent the past year painting flowers for family and friends.

Those paintings are now on display and available to purchase at 221 West Main St. as part of the Monongahela Main Street Program’s Fine Arts Display, which utilizes the vacant building’s windows to house a rotating art display.

The vacant building is owned by Tobias Provan and only allows for the public to view the window display.

This is the second time Kish has had her art displayed in the window, and previous displays include projects from graduating Ringgold High School seniors.

Staging for the display was provided by Monongahela interior designer and actress Elizabeth Elias Huffman.

Kish said the 22 paintings of roses, peonies, sunflowers, daisies, gladiolus, hydrangea, and other flowers provide an artistic leap into spring.

“The winter was dark with the pandemic, so I thought I need colors to help me and everyone through this winter,” Kish said. “I had never really focused on flowers before in my paintings. It’s always been landscapes, seascapes and portraits. I thought ‘I’ll do flowers and that will lead us to the spring.’”

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