By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(Jan. 30, 2020) Two Worcester County artists will have their work displayed for two months at the Worcester County Library Berlin branch inside the second-floor gallery from Saturday through Monday, March 30.

By Morgan Pilz
The Worcester County Arts Council will be displaying two local artists’ works on the second floor of the Worcester County Library Berlin branch through March 30. Pictured, from left, are Ocean Pines resident Lisa Marie Penn, Worcester County Arts Council Executive Director Anna Mullis and Milford, Delaware resident Martha Pileggi.

Lisa Marie Penn and Martha Pileggi, both of whom have been painting for decades, describe their style as realism. Penn, a full-time artist, is a Baltimore native who moved to Ocean Pines last year. Pileggi, originally from Philadelphia, moved to Milford, Delaware in 1980 and has been painting since 1985.

“I discovered my love of art when I could use crayons and I’ve been creating ever since in some way, shape or form,” Penn said. “I went through a big life and career change, so I decided to move down here to be close to my family, myself and my 5-year-old daughter.”

Pileggi travels throughout the region to paint scenes in Cambridge, Easton, Wilmington, Dover, Lewes, Chincoteague, Assateague and Ocean City. Her current focus is en plein air painting, or painting outdoors.

“I belong to seven different plein air groups,” Pileggi said. “In the summer, I’m painting almost four to five days a week.”

Inside the Berlin Worcester County Public Library is a space donated by the Worcester County Library Foundation called the Worcester County Arts Council Gallery, which has been recognizing local artists for almost a year.

“We are very proud of the space, arts council Executive Director Anna Mullis said. “It’s an excellent opportunity … we feature artists not only from Berlin, but from different areas of Delmarva such as Ocean City and Snow Hill and Pocomoke City.

“I am very excited,” Penn said. “I am taking this opportunity to get exposure, because I’m new here. I think that it’s very enlightening for people to see artists’ work and look at things in a different perspective that they would not have looked at it before.”

“I think it brings people a lot of thought when they look at paintings,” Pileggi said. “It takes them away from their everyday life. They can enjoy the expertise that goes into actually creating it. A lot of people don’t even see the colors, like in a sunset, until you actually point it out to them … until they actually see it in a painting.”

Pileggi plans to travel across the county to do more plein air paintings and Penn wants to take part in the plein air experience and paint scenes found on the Eastern Shore and Delaware.

The opening “Meet the Artists” reception, will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 4, from 3-5 p.m. at the Berlin Public Library’s Second Floor Gallery located on 13 Hamilton Avenue. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call the Worcester County Arts Council at 410-641-0809.