I am a self-taught disabled artist who believes very strongly in the positive impact art has on physical and mental health. I have been fighting a battle to control my own body due to the effect of a previous brain tumor and several subsequent surgeries and illnesses. I have also “survived” a lengthy period of clinical depression. I started to cry and couldn’t stop! While I sometimes feel “trapped” by my limitations (double vision, poor coordination, impaired hearing and lack of balance which has made me wheelchair-bound) art has enabled me to feel almost “whole”.
My art is part of my effort at self-expression and adaptation. I don’t have to worry about a shaky hand and poor coordination, double vision and impaired hearing. I can actually communicate my feelings about my limitations in my work. I don’t have to worry that the problems that I have make me wheelchair-bound. I love to let my shaky brushstrokes, color intensity, size and lines determine perspective. Sometimes I feel hopeless but realize that I can have hope through art, and feel redeemed by it. My paintings are a collection of animals, people and patterning, brightly colored and primitive, though contemporary. Each one has a hand-lettered caption that expresses things I’ve learned or am learning about life.
My paintings have often invoked feelings of sadness, humor, and surprise. People have often told me that I write what they would say but can’t. Any art project can lift my mood and raise my self-esteem. Completing something that I’ve set out to do, and having something tangible to show for it, is truly the “method to the madness” for me. Art has given me a friend that never quits, keeps my mind active and allows me to focus my energy on new challenges.
In large part, I owe my outlook and treatment to my very determined mother, Joan Goldsmith, an abstract artist in her own right, who recognized my predicament and got me to the treatment I needed. It just goes to show that it is possible for a parent, family, or an outside person to help fight a battle that often seems like an insurmountable situation.
Education
BSW- Social Work Seton Hall University
MSW-Social Work Rutgers University
Affiliations-
New York Foundation for the Arts-New York
Arts Unbound- Orange New Jersey
Studio Montclair-Montclair New Jersey
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey- Summit New Jersey
1978 Gallery- Maplewood New Jersey
Very Special Arts-Washington DC and New Brunswick New Jersey
Alliance for the Disabled in Action-Edison New Jersey
Selected Exhibitions
Healing Arts /Atlantic Healthcare- Summit New Jersey
Summit Medical Group- Bernardsville, New Jersey
Rutgers NJ Medical School- Newark, New Jersey
Ceres Gallery- New York, New York
Local Project Gallery- Long Island City, New York
The Firehouse Gallery- Orange, New Jersey
Phoenix Gallery- New York, New York
Outsider Art Fair- New York, New York
The Smithsonian Institute- Washington DC
Kennedy Center- Washington DC
1978 Gallery Maplewood New Jersey
Gallery Bonheur -St Louis Missouri
Outside In - Los Angeles California
Fast Forward- Seattle, Washington
Fragments- Seattle, Washington
Johnson & Johnson Corp- New Jersey
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey- Summit New Jersey
Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Sciences- Loveladies, New Jersey
Retail Arrangements
“The Showcase” at Arts Unbound– Maplewood New Jersey
Dora Stern Gallery at Arts Unbound – Orange New Jersey
American Folk Art Museum Shop- New York New York
The Newark Museum Shop- Newark New Jersey
The Zimmerli Museum Shop- New Brunswick New Jersey
The Noyse Museum Shop- Oceanville New Jersey
The Hunterdon Museum Shop- Hunterdon New Jersey
Extremes Unusual Crafts- New Brunswick New Jersey
My art is part of my effort at self-expression and adaptation. I don’t have to worry about a shaky hand and poor coordination, double vision and impaired hearing. I can actually communicate my feelings about my limitations in my work. I don’t have to worry that the problems that I have make me wheelchair-bound. I love to let my shaky brushstrokes, color intensity, size and lines determine perspective. Sometimes I feel hopeless but realize that I can have hope through art, and feel redeemed by it. My paintings are a collection of animals, people and patterning, brightly colored and primitive, though contemporary. Each one has a hand-lettered caption that expresses things I’ve learned or am learning about life.
My paintings have often invoked feelings of sadness, humor, and surprise. People have often told me that I write what they would say but can’t. Any art project can lift my mood and raise my self-esteem. Completing something that I’ve set out to do, and having something tangible to show for it, is truly the “method to the madness” for me. Art has given me a friend that never quits, keeps my mind active and allows me to focus my energy on new challenges.
In large part, I owe my outlook and treatment to my very determined mother, Joan Goldsmith, an abstract artist in her own right, who recognized my predicament and got me to the treatment I needed. It just goes to show that it is possible for a parent, family, or an outside person to help fight a battle that often seems like an insurmountable situation.
Education
BSW- Social Work Seton Hall University
MSW-Social Work Rutgers University
Affiliations-
New York Foundation for the Arts-New York
Arts Unbound- Orange New Jersey
Studio Montclair-Montclair New Jersey
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey- Summit New Jersey
1978 Gallery- Maplewood New Jersey
Very Special Arts-Washington DC and New Brunswick New Jersey
Alliance for the Disabled in Action-Edison New Jersey
Selected Exhibitions
Healing Arts /Atlantic Healthcare- Summit New Jersey
Summit Medical Group- Bernardsville, New Jersey
Rutgers NJ Medical School- Newark, New Jersey
Ceres Gallery- New York, New York
Local Project Gallery- Long Island City, New York
The Firehouse Gallery- Orange, New Jersey
Phoenix Gallery- New York, New York
Outsider Art Fair- New York, New York
The Smithsonian Institute- Washington DC
Kennedy Center- Washington DC
1978 Gallery Maplewood New Jersey
Gallery Bonheur -St Louis Missouri
Outside In - Los Angeles California
Fast Forward- Seattle, Washington
Fragments- Seattle, Washington
Johnson & Johnson Corp- New Jersey
Visual Arts Center of New Jersey- Summit New Jersey
Long Beach Island Foundation of Arts and Sciences- Loveladies, New Jersey
Retail Arrangements
“The Showcase” at Arts Unbound– Maplewood New Jersey
Dora Stern Gallery at Arts Unbound – Orange New Jersey
American Folk Art Museum Shop- New York New York
The Newark Museum Shop- Newark New Jersey
The Zimmerli Museum Shop- New Brunswick New Jersey
The Noyse Museum Shop- Oceanville New Jersey
The Hunterdon Museum Shop- Hunterdon New Jersey
Extremes Unusual Crafts- New Brunswick New Jersey