When Paul Michael Lutz retired as an independent insurance agent in 2003, his daughter thought he needed a hobby.

“She gave me this book on painting and told me that’s what I needed to do,” said Lutz, 83, who has been a notary and member of the Pennsylvania Association of Notaries (PAN) since its inception in 1955. “I started painting and really liked it.”

Lutz said he has painted hundreds of pictures, including Mail Pouch barns.

“The Mail Pouch barns are fading away,” he said. “I wanted to keep those scenes alive.”

After painting several landscapes that included the iconic barn, he went on to other scenes, such as the bucolic views from the front porch of his cottage facing the Allegheny River. His renderings of two children in a canoe floating down the river are his favorites.

Lutz has painted birdhouses, signs and landscapes on painters’ palettes. He has also done variations on the Mail Pouch barns and included the famed Steeler emblem on several.

His two granddaughters, Maria and Melanie, took photographs of his work and set up a Facebook page for him. He now sells his art from his Facebook page.

If you are interested in seeing his work, go to his Facebook page at:

https://www.facebook.com/#!/paul.m.lutz?fref=ts.