Art Turns to Fashion in Season's Final Reception

, the shoe and accessory boutique on Thompson Street, hosted the last of the Art in August receptions in a blaze of color and design. The acrylic paintings of Glen Victor Doyle, and the jewelry and hand-painted silk of Nina Lapchyk adorned the venue. 

Amid the high fashion collection of shoes and handbags visitors viewed Glen Victor Doyle's iconic renderings of classic shoes.

"I was researching artists from around the world on the internet and came across a a Danish painter of shoes and a Russian who paints shoes he culls form his imagination," Doyle said. "It got me to thinking about the art and craft of shoes and what they represent beyond the practical."

Turning to his own observations of women's shoes Doyle found himself capturing the impossible heights some shoes have, the small point they balance on and the elegant fabrics that complete the look of something splendid.

Women's fashion shoes have imprinted themselves in the collective psyche of modern men and women -- no outfit is complete without them. The memory of a great pair of shoes can linger like the scent of a good perfume. Their painted canvas counterparts mean that a fabulous shoe never has to wear out.  

Nina Larchyk has a day job. She works at the Broad Insititute of MIT and Harvard on human genome research.

"It means I spend somewhere between 80 and 90 perecnt of my day in front of a computer," explained the Ukrainian born scientist. "I don't have many opportunities to socalize at work or to find an outlet for my more creative impulses."

In the States for 16 years and living in Winchester for over 11 of them, she began looking for something expressive. She found it in  painting luxurious silk fabrics of rich and vibrant color, and in the playful use of color and design in her jewelry.

"With these materials I am free to use my imagination to create a look and produce things that capture the imagination," Lapchyk continued.

In reflecting on what draws her to this work, Lapchyk finds the process of making her fashion art to be relaxing and therapuetic.

"I like working with my hands. It's something I sit to do quietly. It is also something I can share with my daughter. At events I meet people and talk and laugh with them," she said smiling. 

The results are one-of-a kind scarfs and shawls, some with varied patterns made from "burned-out" silk and all of which are hemmed by hand. You can wrap yourself in swirls of deep rich color of every hue with exotic traditional and modern designs.

Or you can turn your attention to necklaces and earrings which combine elegance and playfulness as the artist in her experiments with pattern and vivid shades that burst with red, yellow, turquoise, blue and more.

"My art is totally different from my job," said Lapchyk. "This process of using my imagination and sharing my work is  something I really  enjoy."