The Carmel Arts Council (CAC) will welcome artist Walt Thacker to Art in the Garden from 4 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 14. The artist will demonstrate oil painting in the garden for visitors during the monthly Meet Me on Main event in the Arts & Design District.
Thacker is an oil painter with a talent for taking ordinary landscapes and turning them into masterpieces.
“I’ve always been a good artist but getting married and starting a family, I had to have a career with a consistent paycheck,” Thacker said. “At this time, my art endeavors went well beyond the back burner for several years. At age 36, I was reaching a different state of mind. Many men go through this, and you contemplate just about everything – your life, your marriage, career. In retrospect, I have a great wife, good kids, work was hard, but going along well. Still, is this all there is?”
Thacker continued, “Something told me to get back into oil painting, and this was a great awakening for me. It filled a lot of the voids I thought I was experiencing. Thirty years later I’m at my best! My artwork is always upbeat and it helps me keep an upbeat outlook. I do eat healthy and exercise, which is keeping me in good shape in my senior years. I’m an avid gardener and make most of the frames for my artwork.”
This Saturday, you can watch Thacker as he works to complete one of his oil paintings in progress. In addition, there will be a children’s table. Carmel Arts Council volunteers will help children paint trucks, jeeps, and cars in anticipation of Artomobilia coming up later this month in the Arts & Design District. This is a free event.
The World’s Smallest Children’s Art Gallery at 40 W. Main St. – where Art in the Garden will take place – will be open for visitors to view the CAC scholarship winners’ art.
For more information, visit CarmelArtsCouncil.org.