Jerry Walczak has been named artist of the month for June by the Palo Verde Artists.

Originally from Deer Valley, Walczak and his wife bought a house in Sun City to work on before moving here. One day, he stopped at Sundial Recreation Center and met Doris Canavan who was teaching a night class for Palo Verde Artists and enrolled in her class. He remembers taking three of these classes over the years.

Walczak has been painting in oils for 12 years. He notes that he has now won four first places and four second places in the local art shows.

Up to the time he began to paint, he loved drawing pictures. Then, for five years, he painted portraits of his extended family and stopped when he felt that was taking too much time. He started painting pictures of things that struck him as very interesting. He added that he does enjoy doing landscapes.

His favorite picture is the one that hangs over his piano. After painting a picture, he will hang it on a wall for a good length of time so that he can see what needs changing in the picture before completing it.

Walczak mainly paints with oils but he recently began painting with watercolors and discovered he also likes that medium. 

“I’m doing watercolor now but should have learned it years ago, It’s tougher now,” he said, adding some advice: “If you think you want to do something, don’t wait.”

When asked when he paints, Walczak replied that he paints between the times of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. He enjoys the peace and quiet and has found he does not need a lot of sleep. Like many others, he can’t paint unless the mood is right for him. He usually takes about 3 or 4 hours at each sitting.

Walczak’s work can be viewed in June in the upper hall at Sundial Recreation Center, 14801 N. 103 Ave., in the glass case outside the Palo Verde art room. Membership in Palo Verde Artists is $10 per year and is open to RCSC cardholders only.

Visit paloverdeartists.com for more information.