Artists emerge for the Shadyside Arts Festival

Leroy Pettis combined his work with his hobby to create a picture-perfect match.

Pettis is… Leroy Pettis combined his work with his hobby to create a picture-perfect match.

Pettis is one of the approximately 200 artists who jam-pack the sidewalk at the Shadyside Art Festival on Walnut Street, a Pittsburgh tradition for 35 years. The festival operates Aug. 11 through 13, and admission is free to the public. The artists sell their personal paintings, jewelry, sculpture, ceramics and photography on Walnut Street’s seven blocks.

Pettis retired from a senior systems analyst job last December and now concentrates on digital photo art, a hobby he’s undertaken for three years. Digital photo art involves taking a photograph and modifying the colors with a computer program to give the photograph the look of a painting.

Even though he could take it easy from working, Pettis keeps busy with his new job.

“I’m working harder now than I did before I retired,” he said.

Eleven to $20 million of art created by artists from around the country is introduced for the first time and is available to purchase. Food and music are part of the show as well.

The art festival was ranked among the top 100 fine-art festivals by Sunshine Artist magazine in 2004.

“I think it’s the nicest art affair in Pittsburgh,” said Howard Alan, CEO of Howard Alan Events, producer of the art festival for the last 10 years. “And unlike art galleries that you see in museums, you can meet the artist who created that piece of art.”

Toni Mann has excelled in drawing, painting and creating pottery for all of her adult life. After receiving an education degree from Edinboro University, she taught art in Florida. There she became friends with a woman who convinced Toni and her husband to sell their pottery at art shows.

“We made $300 at our first show,” she said. “At the time, that was the same amount of money I made in teaching per week. So I quit teaching, and I’ve been creating pottery for shows across the eastern half United States over the last 26 years.”

Mann typically paints flowers, dogs and cats on her pottery. Dog designs are the No. 1 seller, and she’ll paint your dog on a food dish if you give her a photograph.

“I’m obsessed with what I do,” she said. “I probably work 12 or 13 hours a day. But it’s in my blood, and I like creating.”

Alan noted that the artists are committed to their creations and agreed with Mann’s assertion of a normal working day.

“A lot of well-educated people, former doctors, lawyers and retailers, are selling their art at the Shadyside show,” he said. “But their passion was their art. They traded in their house for a motor home. They’ll spend 14 to 16 hours a day creating their work and are on the road for six to eight months a year selling their work.”

Expectations are high for this year’s festival.

“Every year we upgrade the quality of the show,” Alan said. “We’d like to make this the best art show, not only in Pittsburgh, but the entire country.”

Having encountered skeptics before, Mann offered her opinion to people who doubt the legitimacy of the artists.

“Don’t look at us just like we’re a commercial enterprise,” he said. “For the students in school now — look at art as a viable way of living. You don’t have to starve and you can work as an artist to support yourself.”

And you might like your job, too.

“It’s fun to create art,” Pettis said, “but it’s even more fun to see the smile on someone’s face when they look at what I’ve created. That’s really satisfying for me.”