The exhibition “Ordinary Moments” elevates the beauty of aging by highlighting mundane moments in time.

Amy Werntz’s 33-piece exhibition opened on April 8 and will be available for viewing until June 3 at the Lake Charles Historic City Hall Arts and Cultural Center.

Werntz is a self-taught artist from Dallas, Texas who dedicated her life to art in 2012.

She worked in the interior design world after graduating with her Bachelor of Arts in 2002. Eight years later, she was encouraged by her boss to submit her original art in a project.

“In 2010, I was working on a high-rise project where the client wanted all of the art in the public spaces to be original, local art. My boss encouraged me to include my work in the presentation,” she recalled. “That was the first time I had ever really considered that I could do more with my painting.”

She experienced artistic success over the next couple of years while displaying work in a local showroom. “In 2012 as construction, and therefore design work, slowed, I took the opportunity to quit full time design work to pursue my art.”

Most of the paintings were created with oils, but four of the pieces are collages created with cut paper.

Werntz is a realist painter, but does not restrict her style to follow photo or hyper-realistic standards in an effort to display each subject as authentically as possible. “I feel like subject and intent should drive style,” she said. “If I were to paint in the style I painted prior to these works, they wouldn’t tell the same story.”

Her previous style was very graphic and stylized, but her current style -which she has worked in for five years – plays with perspective.

She uses scale and a great level of detail to “encourage the viewer to get in closer therefore creating a more intimate experience.”

The styles of the paintings vary depending on the subject, themes and messages that Werntz wishes to emphasize. “I am drawn to different subjects for different reasons, which is why some subjects are painted smaller, more loosely or collaged.”

The subject that Werntz often focuses on is time. “It seems overwhelming to me how quickly time passes. My paintings are my attempt to create something that stands against or pauses time for just a moment.”

She is especially inspired by the beauty of aging. “Society is so focused on youth as the representation of beauty and seems to have lost that reverence for time and experience.”

Her main goal is to capture and represent ordinary moments in people’s lives, and she honors her subjects by memorializing their presence. “It boils down to highlighting a life lived,” she said. She does this by focusing on the subject’s postures, clothing and “visible signs of the passage of time.”

While her pieces focus on specific people, Werntz aims for the paintings to speak to a universal experience. “As much as the paintings are a way to honor an individual, they are just as much about all people as they are about a person.”

She hopes the audience feels a connection to the art by seeing themselves, friends or loved ones in the subjects, along with “deeping their awareness of those around them.”

“Aging is very scary for many people, perhaps that confrontation is partly to blame for older members of our society being so often overlooked. She said. “Maybe if people begin to see the beauty in the traces left behind by life’s experiences it can change their perceptions.”

Werntz’s moments of sonder have always been impactful in her life. “I have always loved observing those around me, and I think as people age the visual story they present becomes so much deeper and more interesting.”

“Our lives are made up primarily of these seemingly insignificant moments that are likely forgotten by the end of the day. I am drawn to the subjects I paint for various reasons, but I think they all seem to exude a universal emotion.”

She leaves the interpretation up to patrons, which is what makes the art special. “People bring their experiences to work and see in it what they need to see…Whether someone sees beauty, strength, loneliness, contemplation.. comes from their experiences.”