Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Artist Louise Kerr, 81, paints along C Street in Virginia City on Friday afternoon. Kerr is selling tickets to raffle off one of her original pieces as a fundraiser for the VIrginia City Volunteer Fire Department.
Amid the hundreds of motorcycles and bikers clomping over the boardwalks of Virginia City on Friday, Louise Kerr stood out.
The 81-year-old cleared a spot just across from the Union Brewery on C Street and set up her canvas and easel. She was using the many visitors to Thunder on the Comstock as the muse for her latest painting.
The painting showcased the storefront of the Union Brewery with all manner of motorcycles parked out front. By 1:30 p.m., someone had already inquired about purchasing the painting when she was finished with it.
"I love to paint. I get so excited about something and I will almost knock myself out when I want to do it," Kerr said. "When I go to the dentist, I work on a painting in my head."
Kerr, a resident of Virginia City, has been painting for 42 years and is using her talent to do some good for her community. She is selling tickets to win one of her original works with proceeds going to support the Virginia City Volunteer Fire Department.
"If you live up here, the stuff the fire guys do, putting you in the ambulance, delivering soup and food during the winter, we need them and they need new radio equipment," Kerr said.
The oil painting was painted from photos donated by VCFD Chief Joe Curtis, taken during the waterfall fire in 2004. Tickets are available for $1 or six tickets for $5 at Peach House antiques in Virginia City or from Curtis or Ethyl Eaton.
"I like painting in oils because I can correct my mistakes, and there are plenty of them," Kerr said.
In addition to painting for herself, Kerr also does commissioned works. She recently returned from a trip to Maine to take photos for paintings of two ponds.
She also exhibits her paintings in a gallery in Seattle, but said the subjects of those works are different from her commissions in Virginia City.
"They like the florals in Seattle, those sell really well up there," Kerr said. "If they knew I was painting motorcycles, they'd just die."
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.