A long overdue thank you note!

A beauty shot of a few of the Chicks…
courtesy of Karin and her “eye phone”

Doesn’t the opening look like a New York Disco?

The Chicks with Balls show opened to rave reviews (see press coverage at right) and record crowds at BAYarts in Bay Village, Ohio. Some of the amazing ladies who posed for me flew in from New York, Boston and Omaha for the weekend to be part of the growing buzz that has surrounded CWB. And Ohio friends from as far as Akron, Hudson, Toledo and Columbus made the drive for the phenomenal opening reception hosted by BAYarts.

Karina and Kim in front of their paintings.

My honored houseguests this weekend were Pam, Karina, Kim, and Miles too. Arriving a day early, was my wise and funny friend, Norma, whom I’ve known since my early graphic designer days. She came from Massachusetts to show her support and to pose for me too…you’ll have to wait for the next show to see her painting though!

Pam and I crack up in front of hers.

Those of you who attended the gallery talk and have been keeping up with me on facebook know that my mom (my oldest Chick) had major surgery for her ovarian cancer in July. She still tires easily, so the non-stop action of the opening reception would have been too much for her, so she was not there.

My mom, Karina and Norma relaxing with some coffee

Table full of estrogen…we were joined by Karin, Maria and Cindy.

I did want her to experience at least some of the celebrity and friendship the other chicks were enjoying, so, on Saturday morning after the reception, I had a low key brunch for my houseguests and the local chicks who were able to make it…and of course my mom. Thank you to the ladies who attended…it was so great to see my friends making friends with my friends and do what we do best…talk, talk and talk.

Thrilled that Serpie was able to stop by the next morning as well!

A little mutual book signing going on.

Through the weekend’s activities, here’s what struck me the most, though I really shouldn’t have been surprised: my friends are such nurturing, caring friendly and welcoming people I was so proud to have them meet and bond with each other…bond the way I had individually bonded with each of them over the past 30 years or so. 

Nina, my poster Chick!

The second thing that so struck me were ALL the acts of nurturing, consideration, and support performed by so many of the people whose lives had been touched by “Chicks”. A multitude of thanks to those who posed for, came to see, supported, read about, commented on and have been following my Chicks with Balls painting adventure.

Some have been faithful supporters right from the start, following and sharing the blog, and keeping up with the paintings. Some have joined up along the way.

And over the past few years or so, I’ve had friends on facebook as well as neighbors in the street stop me just to let me know how they have been moved by my Chicks blogs. You have no idea how much I appreciate hearing positive feedback…really.

Maria brought her daughters to the show and poses with her painting.

So many of my friends…who posed and those who didn’t…have had the Chicks opening on their calendar for a year now…ever since I’ve started talking about it incessantly.

And at the opening reception itself, I was heartened by how many people were looking out for MY comfort. To be the recipient of all this unsung heroism was to truly be humbled and honored.

During the festivities, one friend kept me fed and made sure I didn’t starve during the fanfare of the opening. She also had a great tip for making it seem like I was socially drinking, when in fact I was trying to stay sober, coherent and upright.

Susie poses with her friend Joan…
you can see her painting in the background on the left.

Another friend noticed that I had my purse still hanging from my shoulder well into the opening. Knowing I didn’t want to leave the kind people who were talking to me, she made sure to take the purse from me and put it in a safe place, so I could truly play the hostess at the opening.

Another friend restricted her own son’s social life for the night of the opening, to ensure that no problems would arise and force her to leave during this special night. She told him it was a very important night for Miss Judy.

Sharon and I in front of her double portrait.

One of my friends who went incognito and tried to overhear what other guests were saying about my paintings…a tricky thing to orchestrate at your own solo show, but wonderful for her to do it for me!

And the thorough and kind people at BAYarts really went to bat for me too, facilitating press coverage and making sure I was introduced to anyone and everyone who expressed their love of the Chicks. 

And through the course of the weekend (and the past few weeks too), my own family really went to bat for me too. My boys took over many of my household chores as my sister and I took over many of my mom’s household chores during her surgery recovery. My oldest drove his brothers to their activities and lessons and my husband even traded cars with me for weeks so I could take my dad to visit my mom in the hospital in a nice comfy sedan instead of my very high truck.

Sunday morning was a relaxing floor play session…
legos are the BEST!

Even my mom, the original unsung hero…who likes to do things for herself, hired some temporary home care help, just in time for me to turn my attention back to the impending Chicks with Balls events. This was a great relief for me not to have to worry about her and my dad while I was worrying about the Chicks running smoothly.

And during the Chicks weekend, with four female house guests, where the home estrogen to testosterone level went up to 50/50, my teen boys babysat for 3-year old Miles. I loved when my middle son, Eric, the house quizmaster, expressed incredulity that he could give a very thorough and reasonable answer to one of Miles’ many question and still have Miles ask “why?” again and again. Oh the irony.

So, as I relax and reflect, I am so thankful that the Chicks exhibition, opening reception, extravaganza weekend, gallery talk AND workshop all came together so beautifully…so much due to all the support and help from so many Chicks (and dudes) in MY life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

Me and my wonderful workshop students in front of my painting of Laurel…
who was also our figure model!

And lest you fear that this big thank you letter is some kind of a conclusion,
fear not! 

The show at BAYarts was the debut and Chicks is only just beginning to take off. Watch this blog and your emails to see how the Chicks with Balls journey continues to unfold!

My mom and dad in front of her portrait

Just one more… I did bring my parents out for a private viewing to see the show…doesn’t my mom look amazing?

Love this picture!

Oil Painting the Figure and Face with Personality and Grace

Laurel…just another day
by Judy Takács

I’m getting excited about the oil painting workshop I will be teaching at BAYarts in conjunction with Chicks with Balls! And, I just confirmed this moments ago, Laurel (from the painting above) will be our figure model for the workshop.  Laurel is the one I had in mind when I came up with the words, “Personality and Grace”…she is a true pleasure to paint.

Oil Painting the Figure and Face
with Personality and Grace  

A Two-day figure painting workshop with instructor Judy Takács
Saturday, August 24th and Sunday August 25th
Each day from 10:00 to 4:30
At BAYarts in Bay Village, Ohio
sign up at BAYarts.net


If you want to get in on all the wit, wisdom, fun and paint that comes along with talking to me about art and life, I'd love to meet you when you take this really special workshop. I will stress gesture and expression of the nude human form using a live model, along with focusing on the portrait aspect of figure painting. We will work on short oil sketches as preparation for a longer figure painting on canvas.

My demonstrations and workshops have generous doses of  “how to” as well as “why to”. Because I really like to get to know my students one at a time. After the workshop, I continue many of the friendships I have made with attendees through facebook and continued interaction in the Northeast Ohio art world. In other words, there is personal attention for those who seek it. Check out my website to see photos from past workshops and classes I have taught. 

This workshop is also special because, the Chicks with Balls paintings will be on exhibit right downstairs from the studio, so during lunch at Mojos café downstairs and on breaks, students can immerse themselves in these figurative portraits where I have done my darndest to capture the female form with boatloads of personality and hopefully some grace too!

And a note about my personal workshop philosophy. I teach very few workshops or classes, and try to come up with a fresh concept for each one…to keep it interesting for me as well as for you.  And I do not cancel them even if the enrollment is small. The reason for this, is that I am so thankful for the students that signed up, I want to reward them with a small and intimate class where everyone gets a great spot and lots of instructor attention. 

Nina is grace under fire by Judy Takács

Tentative Workshop Schedule:

Morning Day One… will begin with my quick and lively demonstration of spontaneous gestural oil sketches on paper, after which the students will do the same.

Afternoon Day One… the longer pose will start which the students will paint from for the remainder of the workshop. I will demonstrate my process for how to start this long pose on canvas, then the students will paint their own beginnings.

Day Two…  students will continue on the long pose on canvas. I will demonstrate the progression from painting values to augmenting with color during the day to lead the students into the final stages and details of the second day of this longer painting.

A supply list will be given when you signup at BAYarts.net. 
And I'll have my paint, so if you want to try a squirt of something before you buy, I'm happy to share.

Shoot me a quick email if you have questions about the workshop:
judytakacs@me.com 

I look forward to seeing you at the workshop
…or at the opening, Friday night August 9th from 7:00 to 9:00
…or at the gallery talk, Wednesday night August 14th at 7:00.
…or stop by to see the show at BAYarts from August 5th to August 30th. 
Gallery Hours: Monday through Saturday 9:00 to 5:00, Sunday 12:00 to 5:00


Make a day of it with lunch at Vento Trattoria next door, a trip to the BAYarts gift shop and a visit to see Rob Crombie’s amazing landscapes, displayed in the adjacent Diane Boldman Gallery. 

And if nature inspires you, you could take a hike in the Metroparks Huntington Reservation, just behind BAYarts or a visit to the Huntington Beach, just across the street from BAYarts. (really, its all walking distance at this beautiful and cozy, art and nature campus)

BAYarts
28795 Lake Road
Bay Village, Ohio
440 871 6543

Lexi defends and defines her path by Judy Takács

One short life with two wonderful wives Part Two: Kim’s story

Kim the Brave

This is the second part of the story of how the lives of two of my wonderful ladies, Karina and Kim are linked, and also how their lives and stories unfolded in and around the Chicks with Balls project.

During the same visit that Karina (from my last blog entry) posed for me for Chicks with Balls, I also saw our dear friend Mike, her now ex-husband with whom she had a rock solid friendship. 

He had, after 6 years single, remarried and now had a two-month old baby with his new wife Kim.

I had no idea what to expect from Mike’s new wife. Like many children of divorce, I had nursed a secret hope that Mike and Karina might get back together again…though I knew they were so happy as friends, I didn’t want that boat to be rocked. I guess I just hoped they might stay happily divorced, so whenever we came to NYC it would be like the old days.

But, the charismatic and talented professor of radiology, Mike, had inevitably, years later, found someone new.  Her name was Kim and when we were introduced, I knew I was meeting a woman of true quality. She was younger than Mike, but not ridiculously so. She was a great mom, but not competitively so.

And Mike treated her with a respect and tenderness that was obvious. She was the mother of his child and had made real his dream of becoming a father. I got to hold baby Miles and we talked in the park for an hour or so.  Then they went their own way, living the metropolitan parenting dream of pushing an agreeable baby in a stroller laden with high tech diaper gear to the happy activities of a lazy Sunday in the city. Knowing their one bedroom was already too small, Mike also showed me pictures of the lovely house they would be moving into in Bronxville, an immaculate inner suburb of Manhattan.

The following year we visited NYC again for an art show I was in. Of course we would see Karina and Mike…only separately this time. 

Oh, and by the way, Mike casually mentioned to us that a few weeks ago much of his stomach had been removed after a cancer diagnosis. He was now going through chemo to blast the cancer in his nodes…so, we should take the Harlem line from Grand Central to Bronxville, he’d pick us up at the station and we’d visit his family in their beautiful suburban home.

Wow. Cancer was not even on the radar…but now it was.

Mike was a radiologist, a physician, a realist. He knows when doctors are giving you false hope and when they are happy to report you’re worrying for nothing. And, to us, Mike was pure optimism. Six more rounds of chemo and then he’d be done. Cancer would be just a blip on the radar and on with life.

He filled me with optimism too. I took photos of him and Miles to do a painting. (I have done two “father battling cancer” paintings so far; one where I was able to catch it in time and the father is thriving 5 years later. One, where I was too late. I was hoping with Mike I had caught it in time. Painting you…it’s what I do instead of thoughts and prayers. I optimistically called this painting, “Mike and Miles are not done yet…” and purposely left an unfinished stroke just to prove it.)

I loved seeing how beautifully Kim was raising Miles, and what a proud father Mike was. Miles had Mike’s frown and there was a depth of knowledge and understanding in his very young intense eyes. Kim too, seemed to have that depth of understanding…of Mike. She had his number. Her confidence was a different type than Karina’s altogether. She had the confidence of a second time mom, only with her first child and new family. That is a rare gift indeed.

A fun visit, a positive self-diagnosed prognosis by Mike the radiologist and we came home to Ohio cautiously optimistic. We also knew we should visit NYC again before too long.

So I finished the painting and put off visiting…if we didn’t see the cancer we could pretend things were okay. When we finally did bring the painting for them, this second visit wasn’t light-hearted like the previous one…but it wasn’t sad either. Yes, Mike’s cancer had spread. He was painfully thin, his speech labored, and it looked like all movement for him hurt. But Mike, ever the achiever, seemed to actually thrive on the struggle. Practically starving to death between his tiny stomach and the cancer taking nutrition from his body, Mike continued to see patients, read X-ray films, give rounds, lecture, work out, even ride his bike. Mike wasn’t going to die until he was dead…maybe not even then.

But this story isn’t about Mike. It’s about the women, and now it’s Kim’s turn. In her 2 years as a mom and almost as long as a caregiver to a cancer patient she had assumed these roles with grace, courage, cheer and acceptance. She was a firm, loving and stable mom to Miles, as she was a constant and loving wife to Mike.

Kim was profoundly qualified for Chicks with Balls and I selfishly knew she must pose. When life unfolds around the art, for better or worse, it makes the art profoundly important…even though it was an intense time, even though there was a toddler running around, even though Mike’s chest catheter was draining fluids at an alarming and messy rate.

Knowing I would ask Kim to pose, I brought the Chicks with Balls pitch book. A short flip through and she was sold. She wanted to do it then and there, no thinking about it, just do it.

And so we did.

Mike and Kim had a private back yard with loads of natural sunshine on this lovely June afternoon. Mike had gone upstairs to lie down, and Scott was enjoying the rare treat of playing inside with a 2-year old that wasn’t his own.

Kim chose balls from Miles’ toy bin and added Mike’s special beat-up baseball from his childhood. Very comfortable showing her beautiful tanned and toned upper torso, Kim exuded peace, confidence and acceptance.

Two short months later, this strong, proud, brave woman would stand with peace, confidence and acceptance and speak at her husband’s funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in the heart of New York City.

I had never seen a widow speak at her husband’s funeral, but when I thought about it more, it really makes perfect sense. Kim had to get back to business. Toddlers don’t wait for a respectful period of mourning to pass before asking for Macaroni and Cheese or having a tantrum…they want it now. They force the healing process too.

I was so proud and impressed that Kim, in speaking at the funeral, had bravely grabbed by the balls, this new and unfamiliar life that had been thrust upon her to replace the beautiful one she had started with Mike. I know that she will be a profound success at this. I know that happiness and laughter will live in their home, and I know that Kim will make Mike and their son, Miles proud each day as she navigates these uncharted waters with courage, strength and love. And of course balls.

Epilogue…you know how I love epilogues. It has been less than a year since Kim spoke before the crowd at Mike’s funeral and she and Miles are thriving. Kim and Karina actually only met for the first time at Mike’s deathbed, but they have since become friends. At that first heart-wrenching meeting, Kim, thinking like a mom, invited Karina to provide an irreplaceable link for Miles to his father’s life before she knew him.

So Kim, Karina and Miles all get together now and again for a toddler outing. Miles will grow up hearing Mike stories (there are so many) and, through these two wonderful women who both loved Mike so much, he will grow up to know his father. 


And, in the spirit of the full circle that Chicks with Balls chronicles and sometimes completes, Kim and Karina and Miles will all be getting on a plane together to fly out to Ohio for the August 9th opening reception of Chicks with Balls. This especially warms my heart because I know that in so many ways, it means that Mike will be here with us too.

I call her painting, “Kim, the Brave”.

One short life with two wonderful wives: Part One, Karina's Story

Karina Does it Right

Karina and Kim were separated by 6 years and two very different lives.  Our dear friend Mike, a brilliant and charismatic radiologist with a welcoming soul, was incredibly fortunate to have been married to both of them…and I was thrilled both agreed to pose for me for Chicks with Balls.

Karina was the first. She has a European flair, comes from Belgian roots and possesses a trait I have decided to call, “confiance oublieux”* (oblivious confidence). I think it really never occurs to her to doubt herself, her looks, her decisions, her style. If she knots her flowing skirt up on the side to ride her bike through NYC, she makes it classic, even though, if I did the same I would end up as a fashion and traffic disaster.

Karina doesn’t talk herself up to convince others. She doesn’t need the spotlight or try for it…she’s busy worrying about the comfort of others. This is a trait that I selfishly covet.

Karina is blissfully oblivious to how something might appear to others. I’m sure this trait enabled her to put up with Mike’s charming, funny and sometimes abrupt New York manner, with her ego completely intact. Truly though, Mike loved Karina with all his heart and soul, passionately and with humor. We witnessed their relationship embrace the full range of emotions during the time my boyfriend, Scott (now my husband) and I double dated with them in the back seat of Karina’s Volkswagen Fox for 5 years in Boston.

After medical school we were in each other’s weddings. Cross country moves, a dozen Christmas cards and 3 birth announcements from us later, we found out that Mike and Karina had divorced. At my husband’s 40th birthday we saw them in their newly divorced state only to find that they got along better than we had ever seen them, and Mike spoke to Karina so darn respectfully. They were the most happily divorced couple we’d ever seen…on TV or in real life.

The only custody arrangements they had to work out were for shared use of their Volkswagen Golf. Scott and I felt like the children of this divorce, but never were our loyalties pulled in two directions. Neither one bad-mouthed the other in our presence and to this day, like oblivious children in an amicable divorce, we don’t know the details, nor do we need to know…we love them both.

So Karina and Mike, having been in each other’s lives and family since they were 19 and 20 respectively, became more like brother and sister in their late 30s, which seemed perfectly natural.

A few years ago, I visited Karina in NYC and she told me about how her life as a Senior Account VP for a big New York ad agency fared during the failing economy. Laid off now for two years, she lived on limited unemployment benefits and savings and no safety net of a double income. But she did have brains, style and resiliency…and the happy confiance oublieux that things would turn out well.

So, Karina went back to school…this time for art and design. Armed with business and marketing expertise gained in advertising, she showed me how she would literally re-design her future by creating deliciously wild wall coverings and textiles steeped in her ever-present sense of style…remember, if Karina did it, wore it, hung it in her home, it was amazing.

I was so impressed by this cultivation of her raw creative spirit, I asked her about posing for CWB. We took a trip down the street to Dick’s for balls (sorry, but that’s what the store is called) and an hour later Karina posed in the afternoon sun of her eclectic and cozy living room with the MOMA-inspired wiffle balls she had chosen for their spare contemporary clean design qualities.

Karina’s tale of reinvention, style, courage and kindness fit easily into my Chicks with Balls project. And posing for her seemed the most natural thing in the world; fun, relaxed, casual, creative…and with that ever-powerful confiance oublieux shining through.

She even pioneered the Chicks with Balls procedure of emerging from the changing room with a lovely oversized scarf draped over her shoulders. This she let fall at the right moment just before the photo shoot. I now have an exotic shawl available for the ladies that pose for me back at my studio too.

I call her painting, “Karina does it right”



*translation: “oblivious confidence”. Using my High School French and Google Translator, I have made up this French phrase and, in an attempt to introduce it into our language, much like “c’est la vie” and “croissant”, I use it in this blog. Please feel free to do the same should you see an occasion where it fits. 

Click here to read Part Two, Kim's Story.

Both Kim and Karina's paintings will be showing at the Zanesville Museum of Art, when 20 paintings from the Chicks collection travel there for its (and my) first museum solo show.

Opening Reception:

Chicks with Balls:
Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes

Thursday, February 13, 2020

5:00 to 7:00

The long-awaited SECOND Chicks with Balls
launches at the Opening Reception.

Gallery Talk at the Zanesville Museum of Art:

Chicks with Balls: You, me, and every woman we know

Saturday, February 15th, 2020

2:00-3:00

zanesvilleart.org

Satellite Exhibition at The Art Loft Zanesville:
My Epic Triptych, Love, Athena will debut at their First Friday Artwalk
Friday, March 6th, 2020
5:00 to 9:00

Guest Lecture at The Art Loft Zanesville:

Beyond Chicks with Balls: The Goddess Project

Thursday, March 19, 2020
6:00 to 7:00

theartloftzanesville.com

Both first and second Chicks books will be for sale at the Opening Reception and at the ZMA Gift shop for $50 each, during the run of the show. I’ll be available all the events to personally sign books!

ZMA Museum Hours:
Wednesday thru Saturday: 10:00 to 5:00
Thursdays: 10:00 to 7:30

The Art Loft Hours:
These are working art studios with a beautiful gallery common space,
open for the First Friday Artwalk (March 6) by appointment and by chance.
Call first: 740.704.2118

 

 

 

 

Karin: More than we can see

Karin: More than we can see
by Judy Takács

I start to write Karin a thank you for posing for a crazy painting (not Chicks with Balls, another one) and I have to run to the computer to look up the word “immensely” so I won’t spell it wrong. Not because she’s a grammar Nazi (well, she kind of is…like me, but she’s better at it) but because I want her to think I’m a brainiac and can kick around a ten-dollar word like I own the place. I’m hoping Karin will enjoy my very intentional mixup of metaphors and colloquialisms…and that she’ll be impressed I know the words: metaphor and colloquialism…I even think I used them right.

In this thank you note, I went on to tell her how she is my writing muse as well as my artistic muse. She is an epicure of observations…visual, psychological, verbal and written.  And for some reason…maybe because obsessive-compulsive graphic designers inhabit both our souls… we take special offense with badly used punctuation marks. (Please don’t tell us you grew up in the 70’s…or that your “active” yogurt cultures are “live”…the quotation marks betray that they are neither.) So Karin and I notice this kind of stuff in life and write hysterically clever emails informing each other about our latest find…and we laugh and laugh and laugh.

But there’s more. This tall and lovely multi-talented former Victoria’s Secret model also has an MBA and she’s an incredibly gifted writer.  A designer of type, interiors and life, Karin has, over the past 10 years, studied with master photographers and emerged as an incredibly sensitive and dynamic photographer herself (karinmckenna.com). She could literally throw a pile of rusty nails into a dusty corner along with a dead fly and a tic-tac; photograph it and make you hungry for tic-tacs. She’s just that good at photographing food…and hog slaughterings…and exotic locations…really just about everything.

Closest to Karin’s heart, however is documentary photography. For almost as long as she’s been taking pictures professionally, Karin has been photographing the boys, the sports and the character building activities of The Ginn Academy, a very special public school located in the heart of a depressed urban area of Cleveland. This all-male public school provides the students with unparalleled structure and guidance as well as an education, leadership skills, and hope for a successful life. Karin photographs for, writes and maintains their blog, tutors their students, collects and donates clothing and supplies for the school’s families in need and roots for these boys that are beating all the odds.

A designer at heart, Karin took her pose for Chicks with Balls seriously. Her ball choice was a concept to be brainstormed; a design problem to be solved creatively. We actually had two posing sessions, because, after much consideration and discussion, the first ball concept just didn’t hit the mark.

The ball idea you see painted here, however, struck her like a bolt of lightning at 6:00 am on a Saturday morning. Luckily I was awake to find out about it, but had trouble deciphering her spontaneous and cryptic email. (Like I said, she’s more clever than I am.)

When she explained it in detail, however, I saw it was perfect. We scheduled the second posing session and I ran to the party store for Halloween eyeballs. Luckily, since it was September, they had a nice selection.

And so she posed with an eyeball, because with Karin there is so much more than meets the eye, and she sees so much more than the rest of us see; 
hilarity in a forgotten comma,…beauty in a forgotten corner…promise in a forgotten child.

Invisible Women

A group self-portrait in words, dedicated to and inspired by all the Ballsy Art Chicks over a certain age whom I have and have not met at Portrait Society of America conferences over the years

Judge, Jury and Executioner
From The Solon Senior Project: Judy Takács Paints Fascinating Wisdom

I am the thick bespectacled woman at the bar with the fire in her belly.

Sporting sensible business attire, I speak intelligently of the technical details of art making and can’t stop staring at the insanely delicious structure of your nose.

I sit in the unreserved back tables at the Portrait Society Awards Banquet, firmly zipped into my gala-worthy finery, spilling cleavage front and back, and I want to grab you in a headlock, knock you down and paint you…hard!

My cane, my orthopedic shoes and I and have vigilantly stood guard over my artistic vision for the better part of the last 50 years…protecting it with inner peace, a passionate voice and force only when necessary.

Cameo Appearence
From The Solon Senior Project: Judy Takács Paints Fascinating Wisdom

I came of artistic age during an era of portrait painting blight. By night I hatched secret plots with realistic eyes and noses in the shadows of artistic institutions. By day I pasted toxic smelling type to board using hot wax and aspired to someday drawing laundry-soap packages like the male artists in the next room.

I grew up painting people, but if I was lucky to be in the company of artists, I found no mentors, little instruction, and very few kindred spirits. Far from the coasts, I belonged to a Portrait Society of One. I devoured what knowledge I could from forgotten black and white Velasquez reproductions in dusty library-sale books…praying the next page would hold a color plate or a detail.

My painting grew out of this desert with influences from the masters doled out by the art gods with a stingy eye-dropper; a local Sargent show that, for 8 weeks, became my daily happy hour; a 12 hour bus ride to the Metropolitan in New York for a two hour artgasm; and then there was the serendipitous stumble of a lifetime into a room full of Egon Schiele in Vienna and a housefull of Anders Zorn in Sweden. Who were these artists, and with all my art education, why had I never heard of them? And don't even get me started on Bougereau. If I'd sold my car back in the day I could have bought one!

I have worshiped at the altar of actual Rembrandts, Cassats and Vermeers because, when I came of age there was no internet…we really knew nothing of portraiture except for what had made it into books and museums. My favorite artists were the dead ones…and of course, the illustrators—Norman Rockwell brought me to my knees— but one didn’t speak of him in polite art company.

I came of age when Impressionism was the closest thing to representational painting that could be taught by a reputable art institution. From that you quickly moved on to Expressionism, and then if you were serious about being a fine artist; pure Abstraction. There was no taking the best from both worlds, you were in one camp or the other.

Ironically, if you bucked that path, you were reactionary…not rebellious and cool whatsoever. Even in my art youth, I’m sure I was considered every bit the dowdy middle-aged lady in spectacles you see before you today because I painted people…and they looked more or less like people.

Dragonfly and Survival
From The Solon Senior Project: Judy Takács Paints Fascinating Wisdom

But here I am, many years later at the Portrait Society Conference and despite my advanced years, I don’t paint nearly as well as the twenty thirty something Finalists (not a typo, at the Portrait Society Awards there are twenty artists whose paintings have been chosen as finalists, and many of them are in their 20s or 30s). Their youthful paintings glow like the Rembrandts that I have been memorizing for 20, 30, 40 years. I believe they do realize how lucky they are to have their immense talent and drive today and not 30 years ago. Today there are Academies and Ateliers that burst with instruction and inspiration for them to launch brilliant careers painting people. And there is a growing art market that embraces realism to welcome them. Not saying it's an easy path at all, but some of the trees and pricker bushes have been cleared. Seeing what these youthful masters paint and trying to learn, beg, borrow and steal how they have achieved their miracles, well, it pours gasoline on that belly fire of mine.

And, it would seem, the time for painting people has come again. And, since the young have adopted this passion as their own, there is a strong headwind for a movement. At the Portrait Society I am surrounded by hundreds of kindred spirits and inspiration by the bucketload, but I’m thinking maybe the younger artists don’t actually see me…and unless by some lucky twist of cyber fate they have glanced at one of my facebook posts, they haven’t seen my work either.

Nonetheless, the time for me to paint my people has come. I’ve raised my children, I’ve saved some money… and, health, safety and caring for those I love notwithstanding, I’ve got 20, 30, 40 years ahead of me for this epic journey.

I am the bespectacled and thick lady with the fire in her belly and I am in the process of conquering the world…one painted soul at a time, and I will do so until the end of my time.

And maybe, my inspiring youthful peers at the next Portrait Society Conference will actually see me next year and know that I am on the same passionate people painting journey as they are…but maybe they will also remember that I’ve been on it, tripping on stones since well before there was even a path.

The Magnificent Mrs. Melzer
From The Solon Senior Project: Judy Takács Paints Fascinating Wisdom

And, why, you might ask does this blog post not include a Chicks with Balls portrait? Well, my dear readers and art patrons, the show is coming up (Friday night August 9th from 7 to 9:00 at BAYarts), and I'm slowing down the pace of his blog, because some of the paintings will remain a surprise until showtime! Be there to see them all!

Dalma: A Mother's Day Portrait…Windows friendly version!

Dalma: Words and Wisdom

 
About six months ago the oncologist told my mom she had Stage III Ovarian Cancer.

Without skipping a beat, the first words out of her mouth were “Well, I’ve always wanted to find out what happens on the other side!”

She acted as if an airline ticket agent told her she’d have an 8-hour layover in Houston…hadn’t planned to visit, but she’d make the most of what Houston had to offer since she had to be there anyway. And she’d try and learn something too.

And over the past six months, between chemo, recovering from chemo, decisions, clocking the cancer related numbers, taking care of my dad as she had her whole life and being taken care of herself, my mom has risen to the challenge that is ovarian cancer with incredible optimism, humor, fortitude and realism. Though I had no doubt she would…that’s how we do things in this family.

Of course my parents were uniquely prepared for this.  Growing up in war-torn Hungary, they spend a lot of time worrying about, preparing for and living through disaster. Here in the relatively more calm suburbs of Cleveland, Ohio, my mom has continued to be vigilant about possible disaster. In addition to arming all of our cars with window hammers, flashlights, gauze and syrup of ipecac, my mom is the queen of news clippings about recalled tomatoes, carseats, and allergy medicines. While I was away at college she once wrote me a lengthy heartfelt letter about not wearing mascara because it would surely blind me eventually. To her credit, I didn’t wear it for years…opting for subtle eyeliner instead. Eventually, however I did return to the mascara…she’d probably say that’s why I need reading glasses now.

So, after years of preparing for disaster, once it finally hit with this cancer diagnosis, it seemed almost a relief to her in a vindicated parent kind of way and amazingly, my mom found a way to relax, research and have a learning experience with it…like I said, that’s how we do things in this family. We both started a cancer binder to hold the armload of handouts and notes for this “class” we did not sign up for, but were required to take anyway.

My mom really tried to make sure my sister and I were having fun with it too. She was never the depressed cancer patient. It was always a pleasure to see her, whether it was a chemo day, or a driving my dad to the doctor day, or a family visit day.


The morning immediately after hearing the diagnosis wasn’t so cheery for me though. I woke up with a black hole of depression that settled in the pit of MY stomach. Of all the various self-diagnosed neuroses I proudly call my own, depression has thus far not been one of them, but I imagine it must be something like this. My heart goes out to those that struggle with this every day…that you can continue to "live, laugh and love" (as the cliché cheerfully commands you to do) while this oppressive cloud pushes down your every action is truly Herculean and you have my utmost respect…backwards…and in  high heels.

A detail of her gorgeous hands…the most fun to paint! 

And though the globe presented me with a world of challenges,

I am happy with how it came out.


After about an hour though, seratonins, or daylight, or my version of God, or reason, or paint, or coffee, or the fact I had work to do, kicked in and this empty darkness lifted in a remarkable way…unlike true clinical depression that stays. I took a shower and before too long came to the realization that I didn’t have to be sad all the time from this point forward…my mom certainly wasn’t doing that, so what right did I have to? It wasn’t even me that was diagnosed…though anyone who has lost a mother I think would agree it’s pretty damn close.

In the immediate days after the diagnosis, my very wise friend, Cathy, (soon to pose for Chicks with Balls) told me, “Cancer gives you the gift of time”. Not MORE time, but the permission to use THIS time now.

But that is exactly how my mom has always lived her life. Before the cancer diagnosis, there were 80 years of living a passionately educated life; fascinated and fascinating, listening and thinking, discussing, creating, imagining, living, traveling, teaching and writing. My mom is a Professor of English Literature and an author of historical family memoirs, plays and several fiction books as well. At 80, she had only just retired from teaching Shakespeare classes each semester at Notre Dame College of Ohio.

My dad is also an over achiever, at 89, he is a Professor Emeritus of Statistics and Probability at Case Western Reserve University. So, I grew up in a house where your career was your passion. You loved your work, so your work was your hobby too. No bowling leagues or bridge club for the Takács family. I was more social than that though, and spent my teen years living for Saturday night. Thankfully my parents didn’t, so I was always able to borrow the car…another perk of growing up in this highly educated family.

As I sit here in the evening hours, after a full painting day, putting together this blog entry, I see that this was the model for my adult evening home life as well. My vocation is art. My hobby is also art, and writing about the art and the people who inspire it.

And as I see my parent’s growing older, I see how their passions have served them well and keep them active, intelligent and sharp. My mom only just a few weeks ago gave final approval before publishing her latest book, “Refugee from Paradise,”  a fictionalized but very much autobiographical story of a young girl growing up as a recent immigrant in London, after leaving her homeland of Hungary after the Second World War. This story was based on my mom’s journals from that time of upheaval in her own life.

This concept of adapting to change and recognizing that all aspects of life can be used as inspiration for creativity and growth is what she has instilled in me, though I’m not sure how she did that, it feels like I thought it up all on my own…but that is how the best parenting happens. She has written about this embracing of the good with the bad in her novel, “The Condo…or life, a sequel.”

Since my mom, in her quiet ladylike Hungarian manner is one of the most ballsy people I know, and perhaps my greatest unsung hero as well, having her pose for Chicks with Balls was totally part of my plan. However, she took some convincing, but eventually relented. At 80, she is my oldest Chick, and I let her pose seated. I even let her use the globe she asked for. Up until that point, I really held to my guns that the models had to pose with something that could be referred to as a ball…not just a round object of their choosing. I didn’t want to open a can of worms that would lead to my painting Frisbees, tondo family photos and Heirloom Porcelain® Elvis® plates. But, I’d already had several other requests for globes from those with immigrant roots, international adoptions, and concern for our planet, so I too relented on my global policy.


I bought my mom a globe, which she lovingly held to represent Hungary, England and her European roots along with her concern for the earth and keeping it healthy for future generations. She actually posed for me a few months before the cancer diagnosis; so it wasn’t driven by any kind of bucket-list fervor. She just wanted to pose…because she’s a Chick with Balls.

And now, six months after the cancer diagnosis, with 6 rounds of chemo done with, my mom is doing beautifully. Her cancer indicator numbers are good and, knock on wood they will stay that way for a long time. She says she feels better than she did before all this even started. She has vowed to stay calm and appreciate the daily frustrations of life; all of them being part of the rich tapestry we enjoy because of the gift of being alive.

Dalma: Words and Wisdom

No quick one-liner to sum up my mom’s gigantic life of quiet courage, persistence and passion, so I shall simply call this portrait;

Mother, I love you.