feels like a mitzvah to be able to do
them.” Heartwarming as that is, it’s her
ability to make art out of everyday
items like toasters, heaters, rock-
ing chairs and dolls that makes the
mundane unique.

She turned her grandfather’s old
newspaper rack, where she remem-
bers him reading The Forward in
Yiddish, into a conversation piece.

A butter churner turned into a kalei-
doscope of colors.

And during the pandemic, she
even found a way to express both
her frustration and her hope.

“Lifeboat” was a broken clay
boat: “I put it back together as
my response to the pandemic.

And ‘Point the Way’ is fascinating
because sort of a subliminal mes-
sage comes out in my work. It’s
looking for a way to get out of
where we are.

22 DECEMBER 15, 2022
THE GOOD LIFE
“My art has a very important psy-
chological component to it. I use
things evocative of our parents’ and
grandparents’ generations. I’ll use
the same image over and over but
in different ways, different orienta-
tion, different colors, which gives
them different meanings.”
That resonates with her family.

“What I have learned over the
years is artists need to create,” said
her husband, Rich, a hand surgeon
who played guitar while she played
piano in a four-couple band they
used to perform in known as the
Hip Replacements. “Her work is
very meaningful. It evokes emotion.

Even now, when I look at this paint-
ing she did of my Dad who passed
away when I was 30, it’s nostalgic.

It reminds me of my father and our
relationship.” JE
Jon Marks is a freelance writer.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM