Life's A Canvas for Former Westford Resident

If a picture, or a painting in this case, is worth a thousand words, then Serena Lerner should work for the Merriam-Webster company.

Lerner, a former Westford resident who has lived with her husband, Aaron, in Manlius, NY since 2002, works as a full time artist despite having no formal degree in art education. Her love of art was born at a young age when Lerner would rise early on Saturday mornings to watch her favorite artist, Bob Cottle, on his show, The Nature World of Captain Bob.

“Captain Bob would draw animals and I would do my best to follow along”, Lerner wrote in an email.

Though she was too young to understand the artistic concepts Cottle explained, Lerner simply enjoyed being creative. As she got older and developed better hand dexterity, Lerner started to draw horses, dogs, and Mickey Mouse, among other images.

One of her favorite places to go as a child was to art and stationary stores. Lerner was mesmerized by the countless art supplies. For Christmas and her birthday, she asked for art sets. Nothing was more pleasing to her than receiving tins of colored pencils and tubes of paint as gifts. In high school, Lerner started painting mostly in water colors and acrylics on paper.

“Sometimes the results were positive and other times, not so much. You never stop learning and growing.”

Artistic creativity runs in Lerner’s family. Her father plays guitar, her brother Paul plays piano and her sister Ginny acts and sings.

Prior to pursuing art full time, Lerner was a supervisor of insurance replacement operations in the automotive rental industry.

One Friday evening on her way home after a particularly stressful work week, Lerner stopped at an art store. She purchased a canvas and some paints. Upon arriving at home, she retrieved some old brushes from the attic and went to work. Despite not having put a brush to canvas or paper in almost seven years, Lerner finished an entire painting that night.

The next day she returned to that same art store and bought three more canvases. That one spur of the moment stop less than 24 hours prior reignited her creative spark.

“I think we all have those moments in our lives when we think to ourselves ‘What would I do if I didn’t do (whatever your job is)?’ Now this is what I want to do with my life. And, if allowed, I want to do it forever.”

With her love of art newly rediscovered, Lerner contemplated leaving her corporate world employer to pursue an art career. She and Aaron evaluated their finances and risks involved with relying solely on his income. In June of 2012, Lerner left the safety net of gainful employment for the great unknown of life as an artist. Gone was the security of a steady income. Despite the looming challenges, she had to take the leap to realize her dream.

Lerner typically travels with a sketch book. She draws inspiration for her art from the daily surroundings of living in central New York where nature and wildlife are plentiful. Long walks in the woods with her dog fuel her creative spirit.

“Sometimes we just sit and take it all in – the trees, the grass, the wildlife, the sounds.”

She’s spent the past year developing a body of work. In addition to her time in front of a canvas, Lerner has been busy transitioning her “studio” from the back corner of her kitchen to the upstairs of her house so she can have her own creative space.

Lerner displays her art on her website, www.serenalerner.com. She’s only sold a handful of works at this early point in her career. Perfecting her skills and stockpiling pieces for her portfolio has been her main focus to date.

Painting relaxes Lerner aside from being her passion. She finds it to be therapeutic.

“Looking at art in a museum is one of my favorite things to do when I just want to “be”, to sit idle with little to no interruption, and just look at a fantastic piece of art and just think ‘wow’.”

Lerner visits Westford, her “home away from home”, as much as possible since she still has family living there. But for now, art remains her primary focus.

“As far as my career as an artist is concerned, I want to learn all I can, paint every day, and make a living. I want my passion for art to come through in my pieces. I want people to enjoy looking at my paintings as much as I have enjoyed painting them.”