Geneva Arts Fair to Feature Local Painter

South Third Street in downtown Geneva will transform into the stage for the juried Geneva Arts Fair. This annual two-day event will showcase fine artisans from across the country and is scheduled for the upcoming weekend. The fair will take place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, July 25-26.

For further details on the Geneva Arts Fair, visit the Geneva Chamber of Commerce’s website at www.genevachamber.com.

Local artist Elizabeth Kindig, known for her still life and landscape paintings, will feature her work in front of the Kane County Historic Courthouse. This area lies between James and Campbell streets. Kindig specializes in oils, acrylics, and pastels. Originally from Indiana, she moved to Geneva two years ago with her husband, Ross Adams, who is a native of the area.

I often play with color and abstraction to evoke my memories of the farm where I grew up,” Kindig commented on her website.

Kindig found her passion in painting, focusing on heirlooms often stored away and forgotten. As a child, Kindig would spend hours exploring the old farmhouse where her ancestors lived. This led to a deep interest in the stories objects could tell. She explained her painting process as a way to honor those who valued these items.

In my still life work, I seek to give renewed pride of place to those heirlooms that often get tucked away in an attic, she said. The time it takes to see the shapes, assess value relationships and gauge the color of the light in order to convey all of this through paint on the canvas feels like a way to honor the people, now passed on, for whom these objects were once significant.

Kindig has extended her interest to accepting commissions, painting various family heirlooms. For one client, she created a piece featuring a grandfather’s Standard Oil work coat. The coat included hand-sewn details, like a name and a patch, which she aimed to capture.

Alongside her painting work, Kindig is married to Ross Adams, and they have a 7-year-old daughter named Maggie. Before moving to Geneva, Kindig was a middle school humanities teacher in northwest Indiana. She shifted towards painting full-time upon arriving in Geneva.