By Laurie O’Neill — Correspondent
Visiting museums and galleries when he was growing up in New York planted a seed in Ivan Orlinsky that would bloom into a passion for painting. But Orlinsky, the Concord Library’s Artist of the Month in April, made a career detour first.
When he was younger, Orlinsky took classes at the Brooklyn Museum and later at Manhattan’s School of Visual Arts. However, after studying technical communications at Northeastern University, he built a career in high-tech. He tested software applications primarily in the medical field and worked for companies including Partners Healthcare.
“But I was always interested in drawing and painting,” Orlinsky said, explaining why he acted on his long-time love of art.
He lives in Chelmsford with his wife, Gillian, an acrylics artist and teacher, and they work at Western Avenue Studios there. The Orlinskys have two sons.
Other of Orlinsky’s recent exhibits include juried shows at the New England Watercolor Society and an internationally juried show called Atomic Artistry at the Fitchburg Art Museum, co-hosted by Eco-Nuclear Solutions, an Ayer-based nonpartisan, grassroots group of scientists and environmentalists.
Orlinsky studied at the Concord Art Association with Marjorie Glick and Caleb Stone and at the Umbrella, where he took a class in figure drawing. He has taught watercolor painting in Lexington’s continuing education program.
“I like the challenge of sharing a compelling story through my paintings,” said Orlinsky, whose landscapes are mostly of the New England area. “It is a challenge to use watercolors to show the mountains, rivers, and hills of this area. As the seasons change, the landscape vistas change.”
His international travels, including France, also inspire him.
Orlinsky’s work will be displayed in the library’s third-floor Munroe Gallery through April during library hours.
