- March 12, 2026
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When Deborah Van Brundt retired, she wanted to start a fresh chapter in her life.
She made a list of things she’s always wanted to try — tap and ballroom dancing, biking, travel, and art. The art idea stuck with her, especially painting with acrylics.
Fifteen years later, art is her passion.
“As an artist, what I love is experimenting and trying different things,” Van Brundt said. “Nobody would walk into my house, where most of my art hangs, and think that was necessarily the same artist. I will try anything.”
Those who want to see what Van Brundt means can go to University Park's Art in the Park event, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. March 14-15 at the University Park Country Club.
“Art in the Park has been an opportunity for residents and club members, both professional artists and nonprofessional artists, to experience a professional art show,“ Van Brundt said.
“There's no jury deciding what pieces get in as long as they comply with professional standards," Van Brundt said. "They're going to be shown unless we run out of space.”
Van Brundt said it has become a celebrated annual event and the longest running art show in the area. She was the director of the show for the last seven years.
She is stepping aside to let new blood take over. Michael Parkinson and Jeanie Blazey are now cochairs for the event.
Parkinson, who has been drawing and painting since he was a child, didn’t have a lot of discipline or the time to paint during his working life. He retired and suddenly had the time to paint. He has displayed art in the show the last five years.
“The process can often be quite painful," Parkinson said of trying to create as an artist. “There is a moment when you're just struggling to try to capture something. The struggle is part of the experience, and maybe that's what makes it interesting, sort of challenging yourself.”
He said he doesn’t see himself as an artist because he “just copies stuff.”
“I'm very precise and specific in my work,” Parkinson said. “When you see my work, you'll see that it is very much an attempt to capture something that looks similar to a photograph. It is photo realism in my humble opinion and I sometimes envy people like Jeannie, who can just let themselves go and just create.”
Blazey has been part of the show since its inception 26 years ago with a couple of missed shows inbetween.
“I was going through some hard times and just looking for some joy in my life,” Blazey said. “That is the crux of why I paint, because it brings me joy. What I want people to get out of my paintings is joy when they see it.”
Blazey not only paints but takes her art to the next level. She majored in fashion in college.
“My world has come full circle,” Blazey said. “In the last year, I have started a business of fashion, which is reproductions of my paintings on clothing.”
Tazim Jaffer, who was born and raised in Tanzania, has been inspired to pursue art her whole life. As a child, she would climb trees and see areas that were similar to faces within the tree bark. She has experimented in a wide array of different mediums and art forms. She said it reflects her personality, because she has lived in different countries and adapts easily.
For Art in the Park, she is entering two pieces. One is a photograph titled “Three Faces One Spirit” and the other is a painting titled “Echoes of the Body.”
“This painting is a loose rendering of a spontaneous sketch from a live model depicting a reclining nude figure stretched diagonally across the composition,” Jaffer said. “I am interested in capturing feelings, motion, and different tones.”
Approximately 50 artists will have their art on display for the show.
Blazey said there is nothing like watching artists receive recognition.
“I believe in the artists,” Blazey said. "There's nothing greater than somebody who just starts out and learns. They get the experience of creating and what it can bring to their life."
