EAST SYRACUSE — A local oil painter currently has his works exhibited at the East Syracuse Free Library with all the proceeds from ones sold going to the St. Matthew’s Church Food Pantry.

East Syracuse resident John Ryan chose to have the purchases of his paintings benefit the pantry on West Yates Street in the village because he volunteers there taking care of “the various odd jobs that need to be done.”

“I support the food pantry the best I can,” he said. “I work there three days a week, and I’ve been active with it for many, many years—over 35 I’d say.”

Ryan said it makes him feel good to play a role in assisting the impoverished and the food insecure in the community along with anyone else who stops by or works at the pantry.

“I’m glad to help out because I know that people are having an awful hard time,” he said, adding that one of the leaders of the pantry is keeping track of how much is being raised with the artwork display.

Ryan, who is 92 years old going on 93, also worked as a trustee at the James Street library for about 30 years.

Committed to canvases Ryan stretched himself, the paintings resting above a section of bookcases depict scenes like snow-covered barns by a stream, people skating on a frozen brook, and a man seated in a horse stable.

Ryan said he appreciates how oil painting gives the artist an opportunity to experiment with color combinations.

Some of his paintings at the library have been touched up more recently, but otherwise the selections being shown were for the most part all painted at least six years ago, which is when Ryan decided to drift away from painting with no plans to return to it.

Still remaining interested in the art form and the lives of artists he admires, such as Norman Rockwell, Ryan said it has gotten difficult to paint with his glaucoma becoming more pronounced. Mainly though, he made the choice to stop because the senior citizen painting lessons he attended at East Syracuse Minoa Central High School and later the informal art club he joined at the Manlius Senior Activity Centre had dwindled in membership more and more over time.

Those pursuits originally served as therapeutic hobbies and reasons to leave the house after his wife passed away from Alzheimer’s disease 13 years ago.

“It got to the point where coming home in the evening and being alone in an upstairs bedroom, which was my painting room, was kind of tough to do,” Ryan said. “If she was still in the house, it would’ve felt different.”

Ryan said he enjoyed painting with a group because it provided an environment in which he could learn from others and also teach them aspects of his artistic methods.

“To be able to help someone else always made me feel good,” he said. “I had a lot of people ask me ‘how do you do this?’ and ‘how do you do that’ and I was always happy to show them. With another group of people, you’d meet new friends too and you always had something to talk about.”

Since stepping away from painting, Ryan has begun giving away frames, art-related how-to books he collected, and other paraphernalia to people just starting out as oil
painters.

“It’s been an enjoyable life doing it, and I highly recommend for anyone who’s ever thought about painting to take it up,” Ryan said. “It’s a wonderful hobby, and it turned out to be more than a hobby for me. You feel like you really accomplished something no matter what it turns out to be.”

As he clears his home of old paintings, Ryan has made sure to keep some hanging on the walls that were favorites of his departed wife.