Women’s Work as Artists and Writers

  As we emerge from the pandemic, I wanted to include my personal symbol of hope for this challenging year of 2020.   It is the lemon tree outside my veranda window that blossomed throughout and comforted me with the natural beauty that it showed every day. The image of the greenery with the lemons sustained me as the months passed, the seasons changed, but the lemon tree was resilient and beautiful. I asked my friend, the artist, Avigail Gottlieb, who lives in Israel, to paint a lemon tree for me. Here are two renditions of the lemon tree she created. Now I can share it with all of you, and share the hope and beauty that it brings not only in nature, but in art.  I thank her for the inspiration and the gift of her work.   Jennifer Ewig in her essay, “How Art Has Made All The Difference,” questions what she would have become in life if not an artist. She shows us all the paths she took to test her talents, and out of all of them, art won out. The Chicago Art Institut...

Bio - Avigail Gottlieb She has been an artist, mother, and grandmother, residing in Israel since 1969. She lives on a collective farm with her husband and has four sons and lots of grandchildren! She was inspired to create this image of The Lemon Tree after Nitza, one of the editors of "Women's Work," asked her to use a photo of her own lemon tree in her garden. This rendering is as beautiful as the original lemon tree and adds its own interpretation.

  Story-telling is in my DNA and I became aware of this proclivity  at the age of three .   I had awakened from a nightmare that I still remember.  My father was asleep when I crawled into my parents’ bed and snuggled between them.  I told my father a story about a big round house I wanted him to build for me.  The nightmare and the  story  had nothing in common, except perhaps the story was my way of dispelling the fear the nightmare instilled. Stories are a human reaction to life’s tribulations. From earliest times, humans have coped with terrors by relegating them to tales to entertain us around the campfire.  A story shared is a fear  conquer ed, an experience shared is one less trial to be faced without knowledge. My story-telling included tales I made up while I played alone in a grove of lilac bushes in the woods behind our house in Maine. I shared stories of actual experience when I started school after my family moved to Califor...

What would I be if I were not an artist? For this mostly a right-brained human, the answer might have led to great unhappiness. I am not a linear thinker nor do I like to be boxed in. Freedom for me and my creative spirit is what keeps me going. Over the years I have wondered if only I had more of a musical ear or a scientific interest, what might have happened to my path? Now in my early seventies, I can look back on this question a bit more objectively and less passionately than in earlier decades. So much water under the bridge that this question does not intrigue me as it used to. So much has happened to confirm the success of my childhood decision to be an artist. I am very much at home with my chosen path and am grateful for what this has given me and all that I have been able to share. Art seems to whisper in my ear as a muse would do in ancient times. This soft voice gives me insights into my potential and helps me go further. When I was 7, my mother tried to get me into other ...