Long hidden paintings on view at government center

Goshen — Ninety-year-old artist Louise Earnest had been accumulating dozens of her oil paintings over the years. Finally, her daughter and son realized it was time to begin exhibiting their mother’s artwork. “When my brother and I dusted them off, we discovered all these wonderful, colorful oils that had been languishing unseen for years,” said daughter Harriet. Originally from York County, Pa., Earnest now resides in Warwick, where a retrospective of her work was on view this fall at the Lycian Center in Sugar Loaf. Orange County has arranged a smaller exhibit of her works at the County Government Center in Goshen from Friday, Jan. 6, to Wednesday, Feb. 15. “Louise Earnest is a great example of the kind of artistic energy and life we have here in Orange County. Her artistic skills are evident in her paintings and we are proud to have her works on exhibit in the Government Center,” said County Executive Edward A. Diana. Earnest’s style is a combination of realism and impressionism, that has evolved over twenty years to a form of impressionistic abstraction. Her subject matter varies from studio composition to landscape. For eighteen years she studied under landscape artist Ernest Krape of Gettysburg, Pa., whose works are popular in the Midwest. Earnest paints primarily with the palette knife and oils, a technique she prefers almost to the exclusion of brushes. The third floor Executive Suite Gallery at the Goshen Government Center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. For more information, call 291-2136.