There is no need to pay for high dollar reproductions when you can buy original art for a reasonable price.  That’s the message three artist friends hope to convey during their exhibit entitled “Faces and Places” at the Newton-Conover Civic and Performance Place now through May 5.

Dottie McHugh, an artist in the exhibit, said people spend thousands of dollars on reproductions of works by famous artists — and they aren’t worth anything.

Together with artist Kay Robb, McHugh and Judy Rider want to start a campaign for real art, beginning at their art reception tonight from 7-9 p.m. at the Newton-Conover Civic and Performance Place.

The artists, who are also close friends, each have their own unique story to tell through their paintings and each has a different specialty.  Even though the group takes trips together across the state and around the world, each painter creates something entirely of their own.

“I hope they can appreciate the art through our eyes,” McHugh said.

McHugh, a 20-year veteran painter, has painted every day since her children left for college giving her free time to explore her own passions.  McHugh first fell in love with art in college at Miami University in Ohio.

Her art pieces consist of oils, acrylics, watercolors and sculptures, but she’s partial to the oil for her portrait and commission works.  Her friend and fellow painter, Rider, said McHugh likes the oils because she’s not afraid to get messy.

“It suits me better,” McHugh said,

One piece featured in the exhibit is of a cat curled up sleeping on a chair, brought out with bright strokes of royal blue, bronze, gold and emerald in surrealist fashion.

For Rider, the time to paint came sooner in life.  She began taking art classes in the mid-1980s after her three children were old enough to attend primary school. She quickly took to watercolor.

She said watercolor also suits her personality because she likes things neat and clean and watercolors have less mess involved.

McHugh said Rider is one of the best watercolor artists in the area.

“She incorporates every technique I got very tired of trying to learn,” McHugh said.

Rider said she likes to paint from photographs she’s taken, but instead of copying them, she just takes some inspiration from them.  Like in one painting of a lighthouse she has on display, Rider said she took the lighthouse and composition of the land with its rolling hills and added more light and definition than the original picture had.

Kay Robb’s artwork consists of mainly portraits and landscapes as well as high-end commission pieces.  There is a portrait of a young teenage girl hanging on the wall.  Her long brown hair hanging down past her shoulders as she leans against the wall in her blue jeans and charcoal sweatshirt.  The painting is of her daughter.

“We always have fun, and we laugh a lot,” McHugh said.