Bringing Sri Lanka to Great Falls
Local painter celebrates opening of Sri Lanka
exhibit:
Aranya TOMSETH
US: Three years ago, Frances Vecchi spent a month and a half
in Sri Lanka and was captivated by its breathtaking natural beauty.
Sadly, the December 2004 tsunami devastated the beautiful beach
landscapes she had so admired, just a few short months after her visit.
“I was there quite close before it happened, and I wanted to go back
and help and do soup kitchens, and my husband said ‘no, just paint -
paint and that will help to create more awareness,’” said Vecchi, a long
time resident of Great Falls and member of the local artists’ consortium
Great Falls Studios.
Vecchi took her husband’s advice and created oil paintings depicting
the nature scenes she had taken in during her visit. Several of those
paintings will be on display this weekend at Java Junction in Great
Falls as part of her exhibit “Serendipity! Visions of Lovely and Exotic
Sri Lanka.”
Vecchi said she is still working on more paintings of Sri Lanka, and
will save those works for a second exhibit.
“But this will be really neat because there will be both paintings of
places, and photographs after the tsunami, as well as photographs of
some poems that were written in Sinhalese,” said Vecchi.
“There should be maybe 10 or 12 pieces, and there will be everything
- the elephants, the monkeys, the beaches.” When she was in Sri Lanka,
Vecchi stayed with one of her father’s former graduate students at
Cornell University.
“So he knew me since I was a young girl, and he and his wife are just
like family to me,” said Vecchi. “One of their sons may come to the
opening of my show.”
Vecchi has yet to return to Sri Lanka, but would like very much to
visit again - particularly since she has heard that the devastated
communities have really begun to make headway in the rebuilding process.
- The Connection Newspaper
The opening of Frances Vecchi’s exhibit “Serendipity! Visions of
Lovely and Exotic Sri Lanka” will be held today from 3 to 4 p.m. at Java
Junction Cafe, 1025, Seneca Road near the intersection of Georgetown
Pike. For more on Frances Vecchi, visit www.francesvecchi.com. |