Painting in the park

SANDUSKY — Tricia Kaman has fond memories of walking through Washington Park as a child. Her mother, Phyllis Miller, always appreciated the gardens and all the flowers in Sandusky. Kaman graduated from Sandusky High School in 1969. She currently lives in Chagrin Falls. Now living in Chagrin Falls, just southeast of Cleveland, Kaman is an artist with her specialties being portrait and figurative paintings. She sketched at Cedar Point while she was in high school and then attended art school in Cleveland. She founded Kaman's Art Shoppes in 1971 at Geauga Lake. "It became full circle when I came back to Cedar Point with my company in 1986," Kaman said. She retired from the business at Cedar Point about three years ago, but she said her son runs it now. Kaman still enjoys painting. She has a studio in Little Italy in Cleveland. Kaman loves working outdoors, so she had to take advantage of the nice weather. She visited Sandusky the past few weeks to capture a city icon. Kaman could be seen dabbing her brush in paint next to the Boy with the Boot. She carefully added the colors to her canvas. It's a subject she has wanted to paint all her life. "I've wanted to paint this since I was a little girl," Kaman said. Miller passed away about a year ago, so in a way, painting the Boy with the Boot was a tribute to her, Kaman said. Kaman was able to return to her roots to accomplish her dream. It took her three trips to Sandusky to complete the painting, but now she has the finished canvas.