After last year’s Coronavirus-necessitated hiatus, Art on the Lawn Fine Art Show, or AOL, is returning this year with more than 85 artists and artisans from Ohio and beyond.   Show participants will gather outside, under the shade trees at 200 S. Walnut St. in the heart of Yellow Springs, Ohio.  They will be showing and selling their original, fine arts and fine crafts on Saturday, August 14, from 10 am-5 pm, rain or shine. This popular, free, outdoor festival of art, food, and music, now in its thirty-sixth year, is sponsored by Village Artisans Gallery of Yellow Springs. Both new and returning artists will present their ceramics, drawings, fiber art, garden art, glass, jewelry, leatherwork, mixed media, paper craft, paintings, photography and more. Food vendors and live music complement the outstanding juried artwork. 

Yellow Springs artists who will be returning this year to Art on the Lawn include Nicole Swani – Jewlery, Julie Phipps – Painting/Drawing, and Steve Lord – Photography.  Other returning artists from Yellow Springs, who are also members of the Village Artisans are Pam Geisel – Fiber Artist,  Jennifer Berman –  Cartoonist, Printmaker, and Felter, Tara Anderson – Ceramics, Talitha Greene – Jewelry and Photography, Theresa Mayer – Jewelry and Fused Glass. Karl Yost and Aaron Zarenmsky are photographers living in Yellow Springs who are both new, first time exhibitors in the show this year.

AOL’s Featured Artist this year is Linda Alexander Radak of the Alexander Studio.  She is a multi-faceted artist from Mogadore, OH. who won the 2019 AOL Best of Show award.  Radak is primarily a self-taught scratchboard artist. “Scratchboard,” explains Radak, “ is done by subtraction. I use a wooden board covered in a fine clay compound which is then covered in ink. Using a sharp instrument, Exacto knives, tattoo needles or other sharp objects, I carve through the layer of ink into the clay subbase.” Sometimes she adds color to her drawings, and at times, adds as many as seven layers of colored ink onto the surface before continuing to carve and scratch her drawings into the clay base.   Once her works are completed, she coats her finished creations with a protective UV-resistant finish.  This artist will have originals as well as prints available for sale.

While Radak is primarily a scratchboard artist, she also paints with acrylic and oil, sculpts in clay and paper clay.  The genre of most of her work focuses on animals, both pets and wildlife.  “Something about capturing their personality drives my work,” the ten-year veteran of scratchboard was quoted as saying.  The Artist has participated in various shows over the years in addition to AOL like Artapalooza, Akron Arts Expo, Berea Arts Fest, Twisted Wilderfest, Delaware Artfest and others.   If you would like to get a sneak peek of Radak’s work before the show, you can visit her Facebook, Alexander Studio | Facebook 

Dogs and other pets are kindly requested to remain away from the fair. Typical August temperatures and crowds with children make the fair an unsafe place for pets. 

Village Artisans, the sponsor of Art on the Lawn, is a cooperative art gallery in Yellow Springs featuring locally-made, affordable hand-crafted jewelry, woodworking, pottery, printmaking, photography, paintings, drawings, fiber, glass, and mixed media art. Located at 100 Corry Street in Yellow Springs, Ohio, the regular gallery hours are Monday–Thursday 11am – 5pm; Friday and Saturday 11am – 6pm; and Sunday 12 – 5pm with extended hours for special events. For more information call 937-767-1209, email villageartisans.email@yahoo.com, or visit www.villageartisans.blogspot.com or www.facebook.com/villageartisans.