John F. Sauers’ Painting of Deer Creek Donated
In 1984, John F. Sauers of Darlington started his large 4’ by 8’ painting, “Deer Creek in Early Spring from the Garono Farm,” and completed it in 2004. In 2005 he donated it to the Harford Land Trust (HLT) and the Deer Creek Watershed Association (DCWA) to support their missions to protect the natural, agricultural, scenic and cultural assets of this county. John Sauers stipulated that the two organizations find a permanent public home where it could receive the widest possible public exposure to communicate the values of their land conservation work.

Harford Community College has received this donation which can be seen in the main reading room of the College’s new Library. Speaking for the Land Trust, David P. Miller said, “The College, through Ellen A. Menefee of the Art Department and Mary A. Leavens, Director for College & Alumni Development gave us enthusiastic and efficient cooperation, and we are thrilled with this public space it is providing in the Library’s Main Reading Room.”

One of the unique features of Mr. Sauers’ painting is the fact that the Harford Technical High School designed and constructed a black-walnut frame to display this work. With the enthusiastic guidance of Michael E. Svezzese, Jr., instructor, two 2006 seniors, Bradley Ward and Robert Becoat, designed, shaped and finished the frame. (They and other students were already busy helping to construct, at the Technical High School, a transportable housing unit for Habitat For Humanity.) Their mentor commented to the Trust, “This is a great opportunity for our students to complete an impressive product for a public purpose and also to have evidence of their skills in their professional portfolios as they are seeking employment in the economy.”Painting J.F. Sauer

photo: HLT
In 2004, John Sauers, characterizing the Deer Creek valley as “Harford County’s Central Park,” recommended to HLT and DCWA that they “exploit” this painting as a method of raising donations to support the organizations’ land conservation projects. Toward that end, Christopher Heard, professor of photography at Harford Community College, prepared a high quality color photograph of this painting to be printed in a smaller scale suitable for framing and signed by the artist to be given to donors of $250 or more to the Harford Land Trust and/or the Deer Creek Watershed Association.

John F. Sauers was born and raised in Harford County and has lived here for most of his life. For thirty-five years he was a graphic artist and designer for the Baltimore Gas & Electric Company (BGE). In his spare time he created hundreds of paintings of this county’s landscape. In November 2004, as part of the annual Deer Creek Trail Ride organized by HLT and DCWA, John Sauers displayed sixty of his works of Harford County’s past and present scenic and cultural assets. (Many of the houses and farm structures he depicted no longer exist.) An energetic and colorful narrator, Mr. Sauers with a remarkable memory has a rich story about each one of his scenes.

Upon retiring from BGE, John Sauers and his wife, Jeanette moved to southwestern Virginia, started their second career, and became immersed in that area’s burgeoning regional and national art community. After a rigorous regional competition, John Sauers won a four-year term as the resident artist of the William King Regional Art Center in Abingdon, Virginia which has more than 30,000 visitors per year. After a second competition John Sauers received an unprecedented second term as the resident artist at the William King Center, which since that time has become a certified art museum. There, he continued to paint full time and to share “his love of art and expertise with students young and old.” Examples of Mr. Sauers’ work are available at www.wkrac.org and www.newlightgallery.com. After sixteen years in that creative region, Mr. and Mrs. Sauers moved back to the Berkley area of Darlington.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 21 February 2008 )