MaryAnne P. McCleneghan of Dunmore is the November Artist of the Month at the Dunmore Activity Hub. She is shown displaying her first celebrity portrait of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.

MaryAnne P. McCleneghan of Dunmore is the November Artist of the Month at the Dunmore Activity Hub.  Although she began painting while she was in high school and took classes whenever possible, MaryAnne started at the Senior Center when it was on Chestnut Street about 18 years ago.

Then she moved to the Monroe Avenue building after the Grant for Seniors was made available to help build the Dunmore Community Center.

She gets her ideas from photos she has taken and from magazines, particularly landscapes, still life portraits and abstracts. She paints with both hands and sometimes only with a palette knife.

Her featured painting is of Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Michael Phelps.

“I saw Michael Phelps on the cover of Newsweek and thought I have to paint him,” she explains. “He is an exceptional athlete, and I love doing portraits of family and friends. This was the first celebrity portrait I wanted to do.”

Mary Anne compliments class teacher Jill Swersie, saying, “She is very good, very patient, and she knows her colors.” The artist particularly likes it when people join in.

“I find them friendly and helpful when things don’t go just right,” she adds.

She says the new center is a large, beautiful building, easily accessible, and always welcoming.

(For more information, go to: http://www.dunmoreseniorcenter.org/activities/.