The Silver Creek resident has painted hundreds of landscapes over the years — a career that many local residents celebrated Saturday at a gathering in the Hanover Town Hall.

“She is the unofficial historian of the town,” says Vince Martonis, the town’s historian and organizer of the event. “Through her paintings she has preserved things that are long gone such as the footbridge in Silver Creek.”

You’ll find EZ’s work on display at the Silver Creek Public Library. Martonis owns several EZ paintings and four were donated to the Hanover Historical Center while a recent Facebook post revealed more than a dozen area residents who still own her paintings as well.

“She is masterful with her foliage,” says Martonis of the photo realistic quality of her work.

Ethelyn “EZ” Lyman is pictured with some of her artwork

EZ says she has always stuck with landscapes, traveling to the countryside including Allegany State Park, Zoar Valley and Letchworth to take photos and return to her home studio to paint. Barns are among her favorite subjects and have earned numerous honors at art show competitions. And, chances are you’ll find a deer among the wildlife she captures on canvas.

“I cater to deer,” she says. “The whole family are deer hunters, so while the family was out in the woods hunting looking for deer, I went too with my camera.”

She started painting as a hobby and later took art lessons at SUNY Fredonia but admits that “a lot of it’s been trial and error.”

“I started with watercolors first, and I was on watercolors for quite a while and then I changed oils. After that, I went to acrylics and I’ve stayed with acrylics. I still do a few watercolors but mostly just acrylics.”

EZ says she still paints a couple hours every day and that it can take anywhere from a week to 58 hours to complete a project depending on its size which can range from 18 by 24 inches to 24 by 48 inches.

“Bridges can take a long time,” says EZ. “The ridge of a stone bridge like the one at Allegany State Park can take time to get it right. “There’s a covered bridge over there that I painted four or five times and then I decided it’d be nice to do it in the wintertime, so I drove over there and took pictures of it and had prints made.”

Historian Martonis says he and many area residents he has talked to are grateful to EZ for “reminding us of all the beauty and history she has preserved for us.”

“She is a talented artist historian who has documented much of Hanover’s history through her art. ‘EZ Appreciation Day’ was celebrated Saturday with the residents who brought their Lyman paintings to share with others. “It’s also a wonderful trip down memory lane for EZ reminding her of all the beauty and history she has preserved for us,” Martonis said.