Complex sentence: In addition to painting, Blythe carved from poplar a large (8' 2) statue of Lafayette for the Uniontown, Pennsylvania courthouse and invested a great deal of time and energy painting a panorama--an early forerunner to motion pictures.
Split into simpler sentences: In addition to painting, Blythe carved from poplar a large (8' 2) statue of Lafayette for the Uniontown, Pennsylvania courthouse. He also invested a great deal of time and energy painting a panorama--an early forerunner to motion pictures.