By Sue Hughes | For The Times-Post
PENDLETON — A suggestion by a friend in high school led John Silvey to a lifelong love of painting.
When Silvey, 84, was finishing high school in Bremen, Indiana, he couldn’t decide what he wanted to do next.
“I told a friend I didn’t know what I was going to do after graduation, he recommended Herron School of Art in Indianapolis,” he said.
“It was the best thing I could have done career-wise.”
Silvey spent 42 years as a graphic designer and creative director at Warner Press in Anderson before retiring in 2005.
He said he loved working there, making sketches for greeting cards, calendars and church bulletins.
But when they brought in computers, he decided it was time for him to go.
After retiring, he said, “I was getting pretty bored, so I thought I would do some artwork.”
Silvey contributes regularly to the Pendleton Artists Society’s Gallery 119.
Currently, he has three paintings that comprise a triptych, or three-part work, displayed in the gallery window.
The paintings depict three areas of Falls Park: the falls, the lighthouse pond and the playground area.
Silvey said the works, which together measure about 12 feet wide, are meant to flow together and be viewed as one work.
He described the three pieces as contemporary art, presenting his interpretation of the park, which he described a beautiful place that brings the community together.
“I took a little bit or artistic license in this,” he said, stressing that not everything depicted exists.
He started with the intention of doing just one painting — the pond — and later decided to add images of the falls and playground area.
The process unfolded over a couple of years, he said, with much of the painting being done in his garage.
Some people in the neighborhood who saw him working on it “wondered if I was every going to finish it,” he said.
He said he would love to see the work displayed permanently in a public space.
Silvey and his wife, Jane, raised their two boys, Scott and Brent, in Anderson.
Eleven years ago, they made the move to Pendleton.
Jane said she had made several trips to the town and loved it.
John began contributing to the Pendleton art gallery with the encouragement of a local dentist, Dr. Kenneth Lau.
At that time, the gallery was located on the corner of Main and Water streets.
John said he was quite involved at that time, noting that he was one of the earliest artists to be involved in the gallery.
He has won many awards for his paintings.
In 2007 he received the President’s Award of Excellence at the Art Association of Madison County Exhibition for the painting “Pearls of Peace.”
In 2008 he won a first-place award for his piece entitled “Keeping an Eye on Things.”
His paintings are displayed throughout the Silvey house, where he has a second floor art studio, another place he paints in addition to the garage.
Hanging over the couch is a painting he did for his wife of a little boy and his dog walking through a woods.
John and Jane agreed that one of the selling points of the condo they bought was a loft where John does his painting.
Karen Zane, events chairwoman at the gallery said “We love him here.
“He is a nice man, and we love his work.”
