Hazel and Her Flying Violin

24x20x2 inches. It’s inspired by my  Grand-daughter Hazel.(I apologize to  music teachers everywhere. I know that this is not how you hold a violin!  I have had a  music teacher fall in love with the musicality of the painting, but she couldn’t get past the way Hazel was holding the violin.

Let me tell you about Hazel. I met her for the very  first time after moving to Toronto.  On one hand, she is a little grown up. Very eloquent and has matters at hand.  She is an Artist in her own right, and also an excitable, delightful child. She loves her Mommy and Daddy fiercely. She had already known her Mom’s mom before meeting me. So when my son Chris introduced us, she didn’t want to call me Grandma, because that meant her other Grandma. We worked it out and she and her sister call me Nana.  She loves to come to Nana’s house for a “Stay Up Over” instead of a sleep over. Need I say more.

This painting was preceded by a smaller, on paper version of “Hazel and Her Flying Violin”  I posted it on FaceBook,  When Hazel came over she wanted to see the original.  I showed her the little 8.5×11 inch picture. She said, “How far are you on the big painting?” I said, well, I haven;t started it yet.  She said, “How long will it take you after you start it??”  So you see, this painting just had to be born!!

Hazel imbues beauty and magic into the world, and I wanted this painting to reflect that. It has little fireworks gently exploding in the back ground.  Her dress is sparkly and trimmed with red beads. She wears a necklace made out of beads and metallic embroidery thread.

I hear fireworks when I look at this painting.

The first work on paper was created for my hand-made greeting card line.  This little card has a sparkly dress, relief paint necklace, and pearlescent sky. A bit of glitter paint on the strings, and a lovely little gem affixed to the necklace.

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Paradise

40×30 inches, acrylic on canvas. I had been living in Hell’s Kitchen in Manhattan, and became very ill, having lost people whom I loved dearly.  This is the story of this painting. Many people have heard the condensed version, which is ” I moved from New York, to Vancouver, and it was so pretty there, I decided to make this painting and call it Paradise”. You are getting the in-depth details.

My husband at the time this was all happening was with me, but not. I don’t know how to describe the disconnect we had. I was falling fast, and I guess he just couldn’t conceive of my pain. I was sick with grief and couldn’t eat. I became anorexic. I went from about 135 pounds,  to 75 pounds in a two-year period.

My beautiful and wonderful sister helped me get to Vancouver. I will never forget our arrival. My youngest Priscilla who was straddled across me on the plane, threw up all over my dress. What a position to be in! It happened just as we were landing. I had only Angela (her older sister) to help me. She was five years old, and completely grossed out by it!  It was like she could not believe this. How could she be there with the barf?!! and after living in Hells Kitchen for over a decade, I wasn’t about to hand Priscilla over to a stranger, while I changed my clothes. (Which, by the way, were in my suitcase, that I had to go and collect from the baggage area)  After the plane landed, we ran into a bathroom, and I cleaned my dress as much as I could, while Angela sat with her sister, and gagged. Then I attended to Priscilla. Angela was completely traumatized by the entire affair! Then I went and got our suitcase, and then back to the bathroom to get changed.

We must have taken an extra long time to come out of the gates where my sister Susy was waiting for us. I was so happy to see her, and she was devastated to see me. I  must have looked like a holocaust victim or something. All skin and bones.  She smiled, we hugged, and started off to my parents’ house in Kitsilano. (A lovely section of Vancouver, close to the beach). As we drove through the streets, lined with big beautiful trees, Angela was very impressed. “Mom, is this a National Park?” She was looking out of the window . When we arrived my parents were thrilled to see us. Angela was enjoying all the attention, and was very amused by my Dad. She sat on the couch and said `Grandpa, your gonzo mushuganah!`(I don’t know if I spelled that right. I think it’s Yiddish. He was so-o-o-o- excited to meet his Grand daughter Priscilla, who looked very much like my Mom, who she was named after.  He already met Angela, but this was his first time meeting Priscilla. She, on the other hand, took one look at this big, excited, strange man and started screaming at the top of her lungs, refusing to go into the house for about two hours.

My parents rented us a basement apartment that we called the bubble gum house. It was bright pink inside. Priscilla thought she was in Barbie Princess paradise. I did have it re-painted (against Priscilla’s miniature protests). It was a bit too bright pink for me. We were in  Kitsilano, walking distance to the beach. It was all the healing and loving, and many days at the beach that allowed me to start to bounce back. My third husband Carl finally joined me and we rented a house.  I was almost back to health and happiness but still, very skinny, and just starting to get over things.  I was able to get some spiritual counseling in Los Angeles, and this really helped me get my health back, and my spirits back. I was feeling very alive and wonderful, and it was after this spiritual counseling that I realized I wanted to paint. I had Scientology Assists and these were so amazing. I was able to get back in communication with my body, and I started to just steadily gain back my health.  And then the counseling on top of that. I felt like a whole person again!

All of these experiences are in this painting. The journey from noisy, concrete  New York, to laid back, green and beautiful Vancouver,  the love for my children, my recovery, the love and help of my family and the absolute beauty of where I was, after I was recovered.

That’s the full story behind the painting. This painting belongs to John and Lisa Bell. A lovely and wonderful home.

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Crying Angel

29×21 inches, watercolor on acid free paper, I created this painting after hearing a news story about the suffering of  Somalian children, in a horrific conflict.  I saw this brief footage on TV and wished I could go there and fix everything.

I originally called this painting “Somalian Angel” and had it in an exhibit in Toronto at Gallery 1313. A man from Somalia came into the gallery, and he was initially upset that the Angel didn’t look anything like someone from Somalia, and he was angry, because I have never been to Somalia. I explained to him my intention was to express my love for the children in the conflict, and this is what inspired the painting.  He was not angry after I explained this to him. I changed the title to “Crying Angel” after that. Not wanting to rub salt in any wounds, but really, it is my Somalian Angel.

I do love children. If we adults loved and protected and cared for all the children of the world, and made sure that children were not made to suffer, this world would be a paradise.   Children are the future, and should be treated with love and tolerance, and never be allowed to be hungry,  or mistreated. They should be allowed to flourish and reach their full potential, and they would in turn grow to be positive and influential, caring adults.  This painting was created to express this sentiment.   I wish…..I wish…..

Angel For Lost and Unloved Children

  I painted this picture many years ago. (1987 perhaps) and it is 21×29 inches. Watercolor. I heard a frightning story on the news about some children being murdered by their own mother.  It filled me with sadness, and I just wanted to be omnipotent, and able to reach out and rescue children everywhere, who were unfortunate enough to be born into this world without what they need in protection or love, or food.

This photo does not do her justice. Sadly, it’s the only one I can locate. I just spent an hour digging through old pictures.

When I painted this painting, I wanted to donate it to the City of Vancouver, as a gift, to remind Vancouver to care about children. They didn’t have a program to accept a gift, nor were they able to direct me. I put her up in the GasLite Gallery in Gastown, where she was snapped up by Mr. and Mrs.  Ronald P. They were  very nice, and bought two of my painitngs. The other painting was called “Refused Refuge” and I don’t actually know if I have a picture of it.  If I can hunt one down, I’ll post it tommorrow. A very powerful painting.

One day Rondald P. took me to lunch and told me that I could have quite a feather in my cap, because………….he owned a painting or lithograoh . I’m sorry, I can’t fully recall exactly what it was, but it was a very valuable work of art by Salvadore Dali, and he showed me a picture of it. A magnificent picture of a horse in a cathedral.  Well, to make a long story short, my beautiful Angel had found a home right next to the Dali!

I l-o-v-e this painting, and am thrilled that she has found such a wonderful home.