‘LIFETIME COLLECTION’
Local artist’s collection on display at Uncommon Grounds
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. >> Janet Pazak, about to celebrate her 91st birthday, has something else to celebrate.
The local artist has a collection of her work on display at Uncommon Grounds on Broadway, representing a lifetime of painting.
The collection is curated by Pazak’s daughter, Sharon Miller, and will be displayed through Sept. 29. All of the paintings are available for sale.
Born in Schenectady, Pazak began painting when she was 2 or 3. At the time, there were no art classes available in school. That didn’t stop her from loving to paint. As she got older, she took lessons in oil painting. Pazak specializes in still life and landscapes.
“Oils are beautiful. I like all the different colors,” she commented.
“She has always painted,” Miller said. “I remember her doing works with a palette knife when I was young.”
Pazak has nurtured a love of painting in her family, which now spans three generations. Miller is a local artist herself, and her daughter Megan is not only an artist in her own right, but married to a family of professional art
"We believe people should support the arts, especially for children."
— Sharon Miller
ists as well.
“She taught me to draw, and how to do profiles and ladies’ faces when I was 7 or 8,” Miller recalled. “I love to draw the same as my mom. My daughter also likes it, so it runs in the family.”
Pazak herself comes from a creative family. Her mother, Molly Wallace, was a well-known pianist.
Over the years, through a secretarial career and raising a family, Pazak always painted. Her collection at Uncommon Grounds, about 53 pieces, is only a third of her body of work.
When asked if she had a favorite work or subject, Pazak shook her head and responded, “I like all of them. They’re all so nice.”
Miller has plans to continue to exhibit her mother’s paintings, celebrating her lifetime achievement. She is in the process of building her own studio, Salt Hill Studio and Gallery, in Galway, and will display Pazak’s work there when it opens.
“I also want to have an Art in the Park display later this month that will feature more of her paintings,” she added.
Pazak and Miller would both like to see a nurturing of the arts in today’s generation. When she worked as an elementary music teacher in Galway, Miller worked to get art and music into the schools.
“The arts are so important in our schools,” said Miller. “We believe people should support the arts, especially for children. And especially here in Saratoga. This is a city that’s rich in art.”