By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

When you think of lawyers, most people imagine some sort of composite of what they have seen on television: the type-A personality, driven, determined - the proverbial shark in a suit.

A group of Erie County lawyers are out to shatter that conception by sharing a side of themselves that few might imagine exists - their artistic side.

Thirteen (and counting) Western New York lawyers, led by painter and Erie County Bar Association President Giles Manias, will be putting their work on display at a spring art show in Buffalo. Manias said he came up with the idea after realizing that there were a lot of other closet artists among his colleagues, and he felt like this would be a good opportunity to offer them a chance to put their creative side on display.

"I had seen this sort of thing done and I thought, ‘Gee, it would be neat if we could do something like that here,' " Manias said. "It just seems that lawyers are reluctant to talk about their art, and I thought it would be good to bring them out and allow them to feel like they are part of a culture that appreciates them for being more than just lawyers."

While sculpting, painting and photography might not mesh with the notion of a hard-nosed lawyer, Manias said that is exactly why he and many of his fellow litigators embrace the arts.

"There becomes a point when your brain needs to shift to more artistic, nonregulated, nonlegislated decisions like what you would like to paint next," he said.

Eric Bloom, a partner with Bloom Cole & Shonn LLP, described himself as someone who got into the art game late, but was motivated by the same things as Manias.

"My wife bought me a set of paints as a way to divert a lot of the aggravation, frustration and pressure you feel in the practice of law and to be able to apply it to something creative," he said. "This will be my first time exhibiting my work. Up to now, it has really been for my pleasure and the pleasure of my family."

Bloom said he works with acrylic paints and specializes in painting on unique surfaces, including painting Olympic scenes on a pair of World War II-era skis his wife gave him.

"I really have no technique of my own. I'm very good at copying others, and what I hope to do is eventually develop my own style by learning how the really fine artists painted," Bloom explained.

The lawyer art show, for which Manias is still in the process of securing a venue and date, is attracting more than just painters. Jennifer Scharf, an associate with Connors & Vilardo LLP, will be displaying her photography as part of the project. Also planning to participate in the lawyer art show are photographers Jeffrey Freedman of Jeffrey Freedman Attorneys at Law and Glenn Murray, a Buffalo criminal-defense lawyer, and Deanne Trippi of Palmer Murphy & Tripi, a painter.

For Scharf, who says she doesn't consider herself an artist, but rather someone who enjoys taking photographs, the show will be her first time putting her work on public display.

"It is really exciting, but I am nervous because of the level of talent we have," she said. "This is something I have always done more for fun."

In some ways, Scharf said, photography is an extension of her legal work.

"I think I am absolutely a type-A personality, and the photography, especially digital photography, offers me so much control -- which I love," she explained. "I can put everything I want into a frame and I get to create my own picture, but using someone else's beauty."