It was like old-home week when distinguished Ohio watercolorist, Florian Lawton, visited last Saturday. Appreciative friends, students and collectors gathered to listen as he spoke of the stories behind his various collections, the Amish way of life and a bit about "whiskey paintings." Lawton, now 89, has exhibited at the Cleveland Museum of Art and in the shows of the numerous professional art associations with which he is affiliated: American Watercolor Society, National Watercolor Society, Whiskey Painters of America, National Arts Club, Audubon Artists and the Salamagundi Club.
While widely acclaimed for winter landscapes in which he achieves subtle tones and a remarkable level of detail through the use of opaque white, Lawton is also lauded for outstanding sporting scenes, seascapes and portraits. His collectors, critics, peers and students speak of his technical expertise. But more often, they speak of his ability to capture the moments of daily life — children walking down a path, or looking over a fence, a woman waiting in a carriage, a man looking over a horse or just standing in a barn, looking out the doorway.
