Naperville man turns his retirement years into a canvas

Before Naperville resident Leon Krejci retired three years ago, he had time to paint only on weekends and he didn't create much original art.

Krejci has made up for it with a passion since then.

He spends six hours a day, seven days a week, in his basement studio turning out oil paintings, drawings and computer graphics. His colorful and original work has won numerous awards at area art fairs.

"When I get down there (in the studio) and start painting, I forget everything else," he said.

Krejci expects to show several of the Polish heritage paintings he has worked on this year in the 12th annual Fine Art & Craft Fair from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 1500 Brookdale Road, Naperville.

Featuring the work of 40 artists, the show includes photography, sculpture, stained glass, jewelry, fiber art and ceramics. Prices on the artwork range from a dollar to several hundred dollars, with proceeds benefiting the church's care pantry. Some artists will demonstrate their techniques.

Show Chairman Don Castro said this is the third year Krejci has participated in the fair, which has attracted larger crowds each year.

"He works well with color," Castro said. "I don't know how to describe it except it's well done and his subject matter is very interesting."

Reflecting a family background that included three Polish grandparents, Krejci's paintings include dancers, men and women in traditional dress, knights from Polish literature and a scene from Krakow.

"I like the brightness of his work. It's sharp, crisp," Castro said.

The Polish paintings are the third, ambitious series Krejci has undertaken since he retired. During the first year, he completed his Hamlin Avenue Project - a total 13 paintings stretching 24 feet across to depict the northwest side of Chicago where he grew up. Friends, relatives and Krejci as a boy stand before the two-flats, apartment building, bungalows and frame houses that made up his neighborhood.

"It evokes memories, always," he said. "Almost everyone around here has Chicago roots."

Krejci only laments that he has not been able to exhibit his sidewalk genealogy in total because of its size.

"This kills me that I can't show this anywhere," he said.

A classical music lover, Krejci also is proud of the paintings of Beethoven he did during his second year of retirement. The pictures include variations on Beethoven portraits, Beethoven at the piano, and one with copies of Beethoven's signatures in the background.

"I sent it (the series) to the most prominent Beethoven Web site in France and they loved it," he said.

Krejci did not set out to be an artist. He left home at the age of 14 to become a priest and spent six years in seminary, where he bought an art set at a hardware store and started to paint. Upon leaving seminary, the young man who had never taken an art class decided to major in art at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

He spent his career in the corporate world as a slide presentation designer, forms designer and webmaster. On weekends, he painted copies of Van Gogh's works.

"It was a tremendous learning experience. Some of them are really good copies," Krejci said.

After living in Indiana for 14 years, Krejci and his family moved to Naperville in 2001. Their home now includes a Van Gogh room, an Edward Hopper room and an assortment of paintings in the family room.

"We're running out of space to put all the paintings," said his wife, Kathy. She recalled that she had warned Krejci to stay out of her hair when he took an early retirement.

She need not have worried. Krejci is too busy painting. In addition to his large-scale projects, he has done religious art, paintings of the model airplanes he builds, and assorted another subjects. His portraits of Lincoln were exhibited at Naper Settlement earlier this year as part of the Lincoln bicentennial celebration and one was chosen for the cover of the Connecticut Lawyer journal.

"There's absolutely no end to what you can do," he said.

Krejci's work can be seen on the Chicago Art World Web site by googling his name.

If you go

What: 12th annual Fine Art & Craft Fair

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 7; 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8

Where: St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church, 1500 Brookdale Road, Naperville

Admission: Free

Info: (630) 355-8980, ext. 138