Spotlight on Marie Ulmer: "Art Is Just Something I Have To Do ..."

Judith Zausner's Interview with Local Artist Marie Ulmer

Marie Ulmer is an amazing 92 year old artist living in Philadelphia. She is focused and talented and shares her life story in the Arts.

  Marie Ulmer Self-Portrait c.1941 gouache

When did you realize that you wanted to make Art?

As far as I can remember, I always wanted to make Art. I started out drawing myself and then created drawings of the neighborhood children

Where did you study art?

I studied at what is now called University of the Arts but was called School of Industrial Art when I went there. I chose that school because they had a variety of subjects that I was interested in. I graduated in 1941.

What kind of art did you specialize in?

I specialized in illustration and used watercolor and gouache

Did you work other places before your career at the Free Library?

I had various jobs before the library. During war time, it was hard to get a job so I worked at a few places including a drafting job for a couple of years. Then I was hired at the Free Library. They hired me to shelve books. Since they did not have an art department at the time, a boy and I started it. I became involve in setting exhibits, designing showcases, and making posters, brochures flyers, and leaflets. The work was very varied. I worked there for 31 years when I took retirement.

What kind of art do you especially enjoy?

I enjoy fantasy illustrations.

I understand that you may have an upcoming show.

Yes, the owner of the Bambi Gallery on 2nd Street is interested in my work. He’s planning to put together a show in cooperation with another gallery.* I have hundreds of pieces of work at home and have worked in many mediums including ceramics, weaving, painting, and jewelry making. I also have written poetry.

*(Bambi & Proximity Gallery presented Marie Ulmer “Tell All” at University of the Arts in Philadelphia, September 24, 2009.)

You have been retired for many years. Do you have some words of wisdom for keeping your passion for art alive?

Art is just something I have to do, it keeps me going, I always look forward to it.

Read more about Marie Ulmer and her art here and also in theartblog.
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Judith Zausner is a CAAN Board Member, consultant, teacher, designer, writer, owner of Caring Crafts, Inc. and writes the Creativity Matters blog.

Painting Process & Artist Chuck Close

In the video below, listen to 60 year old artist Chuck Close share his thoughts about the process of art in this talk titled, Painting Processs / Process Painting for MOMA.

“Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just get to work.”

Paralyzed and confined to a wheelchair since 1988, Close has continued to work with a brush-holding device strapped to his wrist and forearm. Close is a painter, photographer and a "master printmaker who has, over the course of more than 30 years, pushed the boundaries of traditional printmaking in remarkable ways."

Oops Again!

So sorry--I included an dead link to Judith Zausner's article in Aging Today.  But don't worry.  You can read her article Creativity Entrepreneur is a True Believer on page 10 here. Download it or preview it for some great reading!

Day 222 (Or is this Day 1 now?) - Oops!
Originally uploaded by ktpupp

Spotlight on Judith Zausner

Judith Zausner is in the news!  Judith's article Creative Entrepreneur is a True Believer was published in the November-December 2009 issue of Aging Today, the American Society on Aging's (ASA) bimonthly newsletter.  Scroll down to page 10 and you can read Judith's insightful article in this national newsletter.  She talks about her work and shares an example of how reconnecting to creative activity changed a woman's life in such a positive way.

"Creativity is the engine that makes things happen."

And since you're already there on ASA's newsletter, why not enjoy reading the other great articles about aging creatively, such as The Light of a New Creative Age by TimeSlip's Anne Basting & Peter J. Whitehouse on page 7; The Creative Age Explores New, Uncharted Waters by  National Center for Creative Aging Director Gay Hanna; "Journeys" is a Meaningful, Many-Storied Quilt by Mimi Schreiber; an interview with 83 year old artist Bobbi Gray; and an excerpt from Richard and Alice Matzkin's book The Art of Aging.

In addition to being a CAAN Board Member, Judith Zausner is a consultant, teacher, designer and writer who works to empower elders and people with disabilities through creativity. She is the owner of Caring Crafts, Inc., which provides craft kits for adults who have fine motor skill difficulties and/or cognitive problems, and writes the Creativity Matters blog.

Spotlight
Originally uploaded by enrico.maritano

"Creativity Communicates"

Clay artist Barbara Hanselman states, "Creativity communicates." In this video, Barbara demonstrate making basic beads in ceramic clay. It's hard to believe the beads one can create with a coil of clay and some textural enhancements! Barbara made this video while teaching older adults at Lutheran Settlement in Philadelphia to make beads.




After viewing the video, stop by her blog, BH Claysmith where Barbara shares more about herself, her work and "Creativity in Society Today."

Eva Zeisel: Still Creating Beauty at 102!

TED.com is a great site...ideas worth spreading. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. But its scope has become ever broader. TED brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives--in 18 minutes--all recorded on video.

Here a great video from the ceramics designer Eva Zeisel looking back on a 75-year career. What keeps her work as fresh today (her latest line debuted in 2008) as in 1926? Her sense of play and beauty, and her drive for adventure. Listen to Eva Zeisel: The Playful Search for Beauty for stories from a rich, colorful life. It's worth spreading!

About Eva:

Her forms are often abstractions of the natural world and human relationships. Work from throughout her prodigious career is included in important museum collections across the world. Born in 1906, Zeisel declares herself a "maker of useful things." Zeisel currently resides in New York where she continues to design furniture as well as glass and ceramic objects.

Age & Art...

An excerpt from an MMCA Marketplace interview with PA artist Linda Benton McCloskey--when asked what made her decide to become an artist and how old was she when she knew:

"Actually, it wasn’t until I was in my late fifties …. Years ago when I was a young high school student, loving my art class, I mentioned to my art teacher that I was thinking about art as a career. Her response to me as that she felt that I didn’t have a talent in the art field and that it would better to pursue something different. And, I believed her... never painting, just admiring those who could... one of my co-workers suggested that I take a beginners watercolor class held in the evening. My first thought was 'Are you kidding? I haven’t picked up a brush for over 40 years.' But, what did I have to lose? I took that first class and the first night my teacher asked me to paint a landscape. Afterward - looking back on that 1st painting - it was awful - my first reaction was 'my art teacher was right - I don’t have talent.' But I was encouraged to continue to try… the rest is history."