HINGHAM, MA – To help celebrate Hingham’s 375th anniversary, a group of talented Linden Ponds residents did their part to honor the community’s past through art.
“Hingham Square,” painted by Burt Longenbach
Linden Ponds resident Burt Longenbach teaches a watercolor painting class for residents at the community. Sixteen of them banded together to paint watercolor paintings of scenes of Hingham based on the book Postcard Series Hingham, created by local author James Pierotti. The paintings were on display at the community throughout the month of October.
The book is a collection of approximately 200 old postcard photo scenes of Hingham, some dating back to the late 1800s. Longenbach projected enlarged photos from the book for the resident artists to produce the preliminary sketch for painting. Some residents created more than one of the large paintings, which measure 22 inches by 28 inches in size.
Longenbach said, “The painters gained some information and appreciation of what the town was like during the time period represented.”
After the residents sketched the postcard photos, the painting began. The colors chosen to use were raw sienna, burnt sienna, and burnt umber, so that the completed paintings would reflect the brown coloration of early photography.
Longenbach said, “From the standpoint of those painting, it provided a learning challenge to accomplish a single color tonal representation in the painting of the image rather than a full palette of colors. They rose to the challenge and the paintings exceeded all expectations.”
“This painting project is a perfect example of the abundance of talent that the residents here at Linden Ponds possess,” said Linden Ponds Executive Director Nina Holt. “Mr. Longenbach is an inspiration to all older adults who seek to explore new and exciting hobbies.”
A former resident of Westfield, New Jersey, Longenbach is an artist who was very active with the New Jersey Watercolor Society. He said that he enjoys sharing his painting experience with others and that this project is a perfect example of sharing ideas, talent and passion.
“First of all there was a correlation with the community – many people are from this area and so they have a strong understanding of Hingham,” said Longenbach. “For many people it was a reflective experience. For those not familiar with the town it was still quite an experience. It was very pleasing seeing residents come out and look at the paintings.”
About Linden Ponds: More than 1,000 people live at Linden Ponds, an Erickson full-service retirement community that promotes a vibrant lifestyle. Erickson Retirement Communities is one of the leading national developers of full-service retirement communities. Headquartered near Baltimore, Md., Erickson has built an innovative network of communities that combine a maintenance-free active lifestyle with an ever-expanding host of amenities, social activities, and wellness and medical centers, proven to improve both physical and mental health. Erickson was named by FORTUNE as being one of the Top 100 “2009 Best Companies to Work For®.”
For more information about this story, please contact Tony Ciavolella, public relations manager, at 973-839-9377 or 732-425-4635.
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