MAINESBURG - This small town east of Mansfield in Tioga County is the location of Rick Packer's "Lil Shed" artist studio.
Located along busy Route 6, Packer, a Mansfield High School grad, constructed the shed to house his studio, opening this spring.
He said he gets comments from visitors and locals about his mural of an eagle in flight on the outside wall of his studio.
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CHERYL R. CLARKE/Sun-Gazette
Rick Packer stands outside his ‘Lil Shed’ artist studio along Route 6 in Mainesburg.
Packer, is a delivery driver for the Troy Penny-Saver, said he always wanted to be an artist and to make his living selling his paintings and teaching others to do what he does.
"I have always loved to paint," Packer said recently. "I'm just putting everything I've got into this little shed."
He produces at least one painting each month from landscapes and photographs he finds online.
The paintings, which feature animals and structures such as churches, line the interior walls of his studio.
Packer spends several hours each day in his studio, working diligently on his paintings, which are done on 24- by 36-inch canvas board.
Using exclusively oil paints, which he said he gets online, he doesn't waste anything and if he produces a painting he doesn't like or that isn't going well he scrapes it off and starts over.
Packer said he wants to offer lessons to anyone wanting to learn his mostly self-taught method and do a show at a local gallery.
Packer said he will do paintings on consignment of most anything except portraits of people.
Pets, landscapes and buildings all are possible consignment topics, he said.
"It has to be a good quality photo," he added.
For additional information about Packer's art, call 404-8500 or go online at lilshedstudio.com.
