The 53rd Annual Mystic Outdoor Art Festival sponsored by the Greater Mystic (Connecticut) Chamber of Commerce once again showcased some 275 fine artists and crafters. The Festival features artists from all sections of the country. Their tents pop up like mushrooms after a rainstorm on Saturday morning lining both sides of Main Street for the weekend where locals and visitors alike come to browse and to buy.

Each artist is invited to submit one work to a jury of experts, which then evaluates each entry and designates awards. This year the judges awarded First Place in Oils to Garden City’s Lillian Forziat for her still life oil painting “Orchids and Orientals.” This painting and many more of her works may be viewed at www.art

galleryLF.homestead.com and at www.lillian-forziat.com.

While Mrs. Forziat’s formal art training was in the field of advertising art before the age of computers, she has honed her fine art skills and techniques as a self-taught artist whose works reflect a classical oil painting heritage. Her still lifes, florals, landscapes, and seascapes bring an essence of traditional elegance and have received numerous awards and distinctions. Her seashell portraits stand alone and have been highly sought by collectors and galleries from Newport, RI to Florida.

Locally some of Lillian Forziat’s paintings may be seen at The Laughing Gull Gallery (Ocean Beach, Fire Island), The Christopher Gallery (Stony Brook), and the Sunflower Fine Art Gallery (Garden City). In Addition, she will be at Setauket’s Gallery North Art Show (September 11 and 12), Westchester’s Armonk Outdoor Art Show (September 25 and 26), and The St. James Court Art Show (Louisville, KY October 1-3).