Recently retired from Patrick Henry High School, librarian Anna Wentworth now has more time to devote to another passion: her painting. The Radford University graduate has studied with well-regarded local artists like Ann Glover, Vera Dickenson and Peyton Klein, from whom she picked up a bit of an impressionistic tendency.
Wentworth’s paintings are on display all month at the WVTF Public Radio studio (3520 Kingsbury Lane, 9-5 weekdays.) This Friday, September 17 from 5 to 7 p.m., the station will hold its monthly open house, with Wentworth in the spotlight. Catered food, wine and music will also be part of the event.
It’s a homecoming of sorts for Wentworth, who used to review plays for the station – even calling in one from New York when she admitted to having “a few martinis,” beforehand. Her showing this Friday, entitled Life.Stories, features landscapes and character studies, in paintings that hover between real life and impressionism. In many cases Wentworth observed people from afar before using them in a painting. She often took pictures to use for reference. “I kind of skulked around,” she said. People placed in conjunction with landscapes has been her focus recently.
“I like color and movement. I’m real interested in people,” said Wentworth, who wanted to be an illustrator but was urged to earn a teaching degree by her mother. Now she has come full circle, returning to the station she first contributed to more than 35 years ago. “It was always a dream of mine to have an art show. The fact that it’s here [at WVTF] makes it all the more special.” (see wvtf.org for more on Wentworth’s show this Friday)
Gene Marrano [email protected]