Blazine, a heart of gold

One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to paint more and write less.

Being that it is July already and I haven’t posted a blog since the one about the Nuns in March, I believe I am accomplishing this goal.

In the interests of writing less, I have also expanded my social media world to Instagram, where it’s really all about the pictures, not the words, so please follow me there too…#judytakacs. I’m posting work in progress on the Chicks paintings.

And, I have finally changed my facebook fanpage name to Judy Takacs, artist and have posted selected Chicks paintings there. Please check it out and give it a “like” if you’re so inclined.

I really have been feverishly, furiously, passionately painting my next set of Chicks for my ongoing series, Chicks with Balls. And here’s the first one I am ready to present to you…“Blazine, a heart of gold”.

Blazine, a heart of gold by Judy Takács

I met Blazine on facebook, we have mutual friends and exchanged high fives in the form of likes and comments for some of our opinions about an on-going art-persecution situation  in the nearby quaint town of Chagrin Falls, Ohio. (If you’re looking for more Ohio Art Persecution, sadly you will find it…read about Loren Naji  a Cleveland Gallery owner, and Karen Prasser  former director of the Solon Center for the Arts.)

One thing led to another and Blazine volunteered to pose for Chicks. When I told her that I was working on other projects and would return to the Chicks in a few months, she told me she needed to pose right away.

Now, since Chicks with Balls opened last summer at BAYarts, I’ve had more than a few women volunteer for Chicks (and a couple dudes too.) Sometimes they are eagerly awaiting my phone call, we schedule a day, do the pose and it’s all good. Other times, however, multiple emails and phone calls are exchanged and nothing materializes. So, to have a willing participant wanting to pose right away was a godsend to this “get it done” gal.

And so Blazine came to pose. Turns out she was going through chemotherapy and juggling the schedule of feeling good vs. feeling bad with her active life of caring for her people. Blazine had recently underwent a double mastectomy and would, in a month or so stop chemo, grow her hair back and go back for reconstructive surgery. The urgency was, much to my relief, not because of a bad prognosis. She said she was doing great and I was thrilled that posing for Chicks was a thing she was driven to do now. She didn’t want to let life, surgery, recovery and a rushed return to normalcy divert her from the passion of this artistic and bold decision.

I love when people feel compelled to pose like this. It means they are as driven by the art as I am, and I know that is an awesome feeling. I’m thrilled to share it with my friends and honored they have trusted me to create art using their inspiration as mine.

The balls Blazine chose, had nothing to do with her own cancer. She chose gold beach balls; the gold symbolizing childhood cancer; a cause she has been active with for years. The gold beach balls were a delight to paint, second only to Blazine’s strong, smart, stable and beautiful bald presence.

Blazine’s portrait fell together as easily as her offer to pose fell into my lap.

I call the painting, “Blazine, heart of gold”

Chicks books for sale at the upcoming Portrait Society Meeting!

Each year as I get ready for the Portrait Society of America meeting, I pack with an eye to leaving space in my luggage for all the new art books I’m going to buy.
Over the years I’ve amassed a small library of inspirational art books purchased at the veritable artists candy store that is the PSoA Book table.

And this year, for the first time ever, my Chicks with Balls book will also be for sale at the amazing Portrait Society book table!

Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács Paints Unsung Female Heroes
large and small format books for sale at the Portrait Society Meeting in D.C.

Portrait of Maquoketa by Rose Frantzen

I shall always remember my first Portrait Society book purchase; “Portrait of Maquoketa” by Rose Frantzen. After seeing her win the “Face-off” live portrait competition, watching her riveting oil painting demonstration, hearing her speak, meeting her and learning about her epic portrait project painting the citizens of her hometown, I snagged a copy of the book. Fortunately I got one before they sold out and lined up to have her sign it too. Since then I have had many breakfasts and late night snacks while poring over the 180 portraits it houses. Read about how Portrait of Maquoketa spurred me on to  move forward with my Chicks with Balls project and make it come to life!

Breaking the Rules of Watercolor and The Intimate Eye by Burton Silverman, New York Creative from Raymond Everett Kinstler and Self-Portraits and Oil Painting Secrets from a Master from David Leffel

At subsequent conferences I also discovered where Burton Silverman, Raymond Everett Kinstler, and David Lefell had been hiding since I first heard about them 30 years ago from my Portrait Painting teacher, José Cintron at the Cleveland Institute of Art. Over the next couple conferences, I bought their newer books and even dragged my 30-year-old tattered, oil-paint and coffee-stained ones from my collection at home for them to sign. It was a thrill to meet these gentlemen, who were, for me living legends from my early training.

Nelson Shanks from Nelson Shanks and Alla Prima by Richard Schmid

At the Portrait Society book table, I was also introduced to Nelson Shanks and Richard Schmid…in book format…can you believe I’d never heard of them before I came to the Portrait Society? I bought both their books and ensured another year or so of inspiring breakfast book dates.

Visions and Voyages by Susan Lyon

And then there was the incredible Susan Lyon book. When my friend bought Visions and Voyages one year, I pored through it, but was already over 50 lbs in my luggage for the return flight. I vowed to come back and buy it the following year. Fearing a sellout like Rose’s book, however, I came back the next morning and bought it anyway. I brought it home as carry-on and read it on the plane. I knew that her book as my breakfast companion would serve as a catalyst for delicious and meaningful brushwork for years to come.

The Incognito Project by Terry Strickland

Last year, I was thrilled to see The Incognito Project by Terry Strickland at the always crowded Portrait Society Book table. I had been following her project where she enticed her friends and family to reveal their secret selves and pose for her. This was of special interest to me because there were similarities in process to my own Chicks with Balls project. Lucky for me I had already ordered the book online and didn’t have to fight for one before it sold out…but I was thrilled to finally meet Terry after only talking to her on facebook.

Working South by Mary Whyte

And I’ll always remember the Portrait Society Conference where I saw Mary Whyte speak about her working south project. She bowled me over with her brilliant, quiet, thoughtful descriptions of her meticulously observed series chronicling the jobs of manual workers in vanishing fields. When she sat down with us for a glass of wine at the bar, it was confirmed I was in the company of a profoundly talented and gracious artist. Next chance I had, I made her book mine and had her sign it. Since then, I have been her groupie and have followed her shows to the Butler Institute and the National Arts Club in New York!

This year I’m looking forward to seeing what the book table has to offer. And, I am especially honored that the Portrait Society has asked me to sell my very own book, Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes, at the fabulous, famous Portrait Society of America book table.

So, please, when you come to the conference this year, leave room in your luggage…or bring a sturdy carry-on totebag! You’ll go home with inspiration to last you a lifetime… maybe you'll go home with “Chicks with Balls!”

 

My collection is growing…maybe yours will too!

And just for the Portrait Society, I will be introducing an abridged, smaller version of the Chicks with Balls book for $50. During the Conference in DC, it will sell for the special discounted price of $45. After that it will be available on blurb.com at the full $50 price.

The complete, beautiful, large, original version is available $80 online at blurb.com.

And if I see you at the Portrait Society, I’ll be more than thrilled to personally sign a copy just for you or for a special Chicks with Balls in your life. Mother’s Day is coming up you know! I'll be sitting at the book signing table on Friday May 1st at 12:30, and look forward to meeting you!

Painting Nuns: The Covered…and Uncovered Woman

During my weekly sessions, painting the retired sisters of Notre Dame, the concept of the veiled and covered woman conjured up all kinds of memories and associations for me.
 

Sr. Marian Coughlin: Grace by Judy Takács

Who can forget the perky and kind Sister Bertrille from “The Flying Nun”?

Sally Field plays the classic “fun nun” in television’s "The Flying Nun”!

I grew up watching the sexy but veiled Barbara Eden from “I Dream of Jeannie.” She referred to her love interest, Major Tony Nelson as “Master.” Even though she had him wrapped around her finger, the whole "Master" thing didn’t sit right with me one bit.

Barbara Eden plays the mischievous Jeannie in the
1960s sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie.”

And, of course, every single clichéd female celebrity of the last century who “vanted to be alone” hid behind a scarf and sunglasses.   

The Mennonites and the Amish women wear bonnets reminiscent of the 19th century, when Pioneer women obeyed their husbands, couldn't vote or own property, but could wield a shotgun and a hoe with the best of them.

The Tichel head covering or the Sheitel wig is worn by an Ultra-Orthodox Jewish wife for modesty so that only her husband may see her hair.

The Tichel like the one pictured covers the head of an
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish wife.

Servants, slaves and working class wives in history, art, fiction and movies
have all worn a kerchief.
 

Academy Award-winning Hattie McDaniel plays the
unforgettable “Mammy” to perfection.
With dignity, humor, loyalty and common sense she simultaneously
scolds and serves Vivien Leigh’s Scarlett in Gone with the Wind.

And, here in the west, we think of the Burka and Niqab as shrouds of subjugation that hide a woman as the private property of her husband and family. Though in the countries where women actually are enslaved, the consequences of not wearing one are dangerous and the full body covering serves as protection too.

Muslim women walk down the street gloved and covered in their Niqabs.

And, finally, the mother of all veiled women, the Virgin Mary, rarely appears in art without her characteristic blue and white headdress and adoringly down-cast or euphorically upcast eyes. A symbol of female perfection, she is maternal, peaceful, loving…and covered.

The Virgin with Angels by Alfred William Bougereau

In my life there has been only one situation where I was confronted with wearing a symbolic head-covering unrelated to warmth.

In planning my wedding, the question of what my veil would look like naturally came up.

As Chief Creative Officer of my wedding, I squashed the veil concept eagerly and without hesitation. Like being called man and WIFE, Mrs. SCOTT Pendergast and promising to love honor and OBEY, I was philosophically opposed.

To me, the bridal veil tradition brought with it images of an obedient daughter of a Medieval family, shrouded and presented to a wealthy suitor along with livestock, land and dowry to secure power and position for her family. The father’s lifting of the veil at the key moment when it was too late for the waiting groom to back out, was too much for this liberated woman, heavily steeped in the feminist movement.

I opted for a lovely hair ornament instead and went into my marriage with both eyes wide open.

Me and my honey on our wedding day.

When I embarked upon my nun painting expedition painting the retired sisters of Notre Dame, I guess I expected their retirement home to look like the convent in “The Sound of Music”;  all abuzz with kindly old singing nuns whose fascinating wizened faces peeked out from the black-and-white modest dignity of a nun’s habit. Portrait essays in black, white and flesh would be juxtaposed with red and pink backgrounds in my sensitively rendered likenesses.

“How do you solve a problem like Maria?”
The nuns from the convent sing about Julie Andrews’ lack of commitment to the sisterhood in “The Sound of Music.”

What I found, however, was that of 170 residents at the retirement home, 11 wore the headgear, and even fewer wore the full habit.

Back in the 1970s, word had been sent from the Vatican that the sisters were no longer required to wear the habit and headdress…and after talking with my new nun friends, I found that many of them said a collective “Hallelujah!” at that news!

Apparently the early headgear was incredibly uncomfortable, gradually tore your hair out and distorted your hearing too. Back in the early days, these women had to make their own headgear by cutting out plastic parts from bleach bottles and covering them with fabric. They wore these stiff wimples during the day and  switched to a slightly more forgiving head covering at night for sleeping.

The traditional headdress of the Sisters of Notre Dame.
Pictured above is Sister Madeline Columbro,
who currently resides at the Retirement Center.

Because the stiff headgear prevented peripheral vision, the sisters who wore it could not drive a car. To go out and serve in the community, they had to rely on drivers, thus adding a layer of complexity to accomplishing their missions.

When these women joined the order at the age of 17 or so, they signed on to cover their heads, day and night…for the rest of their lives. The early convents also enforced the vow of modesty by removing any mirrors. This made it difficult for the sisters to check that their headgear sat straight, with hair nicely tucked away, during the many years they dutifully wore it.

The sisters who eventually shed their habits when it was no longer required, had wonderful reasons besides comfort and convenience. Many disliked the outward display of piety the habit symbolized, feeling that it separated them from the very community of people they wanted to help.

Some of the sisters chose to continue wearing the headgear, and their reasons for doing so were just as compelling as the reasons not to. 

The wearers of the headdress liked how it identified them as someone who can officially help you…like a police officer or fire fighter. One sister told me that without the habit, she’s just a nosy old lady giving kind words and blessings where maybe it wasn’t welcomed. But the habit gave her the authority and courage to help, knowing that her efforts would be taken seriously, respected and would truly bring comfort because of the higher power she was representing.

Sister Sharone, Quiet Joy
Judy Takács

The decision whether or not to wear the headgear was motivated by the same goal; to help those in need the best way they knew how. 

And thankfully, in recent years these noble women were given the option to chose how best to accomplish that mission…with or without the headdress. 


And even this feminist heathen painter who chose to shun the bridal veil, can’t find a darn thing wrong with that!

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Soon you can see the entire collection of my paintings of retired nuns.
You're all invited to the exhibition…

NUN: Judy Takács Paints
Retired Sisters of Notre Dame

Opening Reception: Thursday night April 10th from 5:00 to 7:00

Clara Fritzsche Library Gallery

Notre Dame College

4545 College Road

South Euclid, Ohio

Show dates April 10th through May 23

Gallery hours are generous and the same as library hours.

call for details…216-373-5267

Sr. Patricia Gannon: The Brave by Judy Takács

At the Opening Reception, my mom, Dalma Takács will be in attendance 
selling and signing some of the novels she has authored.
My paintings are featured on her book covers.
Also for sale and signing will be some of my art books, including
Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács Paints Unsung Female Heroes.

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Read my other blogpost about a Heathen Painting Nuns.
See you at the opening!

 

Daniel Day Lewis showing at SYZYGY…kinda

The Unbearable Irony Triptych:

Relentless Artist

Painstakingly Captures

Fleeting Expression

by Judy Takács




A few years ago, I was invited by Cleveland’s extraordinary printmaker, innovator and art instigator, Liz Maugans to create a painting for an art show, “Unbearable Lightness”, which she was curating at BAYarts.

The theme for the show was inspired by the book “The Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera. 

If are not a reader, the movie was excellent and captures much of the spirit of the book, with Daniel Day Lewis in his sexiest role ever…so it's worth a look too. The story is a love triangle…actually a polygon… set during the Prague Spring in 1968, just before the oppressive Soviet communist regime crushed Czechoslovakia’s attempts at liberal reforms.

Since the artists in the show were invited to create art to the theme of the BOOK, I chose to deny myself the movie Daniel Day Lewis fantasy and re-read “Unbearable Lightness of Being” book in search of images and inspiration.

As I read, three ideas stuck with me. One was visual and the other two were intellectual concepts in opposition to each other.

The visual concept is this: Tereza (played by Juliet Binoche in the movie), is desperately in love with a sexually unfaithful Tomás (Daniel Day Lewis). She clings to him each night as they sleep, with a grip so tight he can never truly escape. He continues to stray (thus the love polygon), but also continues to return.

The first conceptual idea in the book is this: A moment, once it happens is gone forever and can never happen again.

And the second concept, in direct opposition to the first is this: There is an inherent irony in creating art (permanent, for-the-ages, timeless, transcendent) that takes as its inspiration the concept of a fleeting moment (already over before you can start the art it inspires). And since much of my work is about irony, relationships, expressions, feelings and truth…as seen through people painted with intense spontaneity, these three concepts came together easily.

I really wanted to paint the clinging desperate squish of two lovers, so I posed my indulgent husband with myself for the centerpiece of the triptych. The two side paintings show my exaggerated intensity and his lack of it. The strings we cling to are flimsy, tiny and unsatisfying to hang on to (like moments gone), and yet the “Relentless Artist” still clings…trying to “Painstakingly Capture” and preserve for all time the transient whisper of a “Fleeting Expression”.

The reason I’m revisiting this tryptych is that for the next week or so you can see the right panel (entitled "Unbearable Irony: Fleeting Expression") exhibited at the SYZYGY show at the Cleveland West Art League at the 78th Street Studio. Since it is a painting of my husband, I included it in this first ever grouping of my work that is exclusively paintings of men. 


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Please join me at the now legendary 78th Street Studios Third Friday Art Walk from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. February 21st. I am honored to be included in this small group of stellar artists as part of the SYZYGY show, curated by Leslie Humez, at the Cleveland West Art League Gallery. 

A very few copies of my Chicks with Balls book will be for sale at the show, and I'll sign one just for you on Friday night February 21st.

Cleveland West Art League Gallery
78th Street Studios
1305 West 80th Street
Cleveland, Ohio

If you can't make the opening, the CWAL gallery will be open Friday February 7th and 14th for the SYZYGY Show from 11:00 to 4:00. And then again for the Closing Reception during February's Third Friday Art Walk on February 21st from 6:00 to 10:00. Check out photos on my facebook page.

Or you can schedule an appointment: (don’t be shy) by calling Dan Nefaros at: 216-456-6503 or you can email him at: cwartleague@gmail.com. Either way check it out. It truly is a dynamite show! 

I have written a blogpost about another SYZYGY painting of a man; my son. Read about, “The Introvert” on this blog too.

Secret Confessions of a Self-made Extrovert

My adventures continue as I work on everything BUT Chicks with Balls 

for a few months. I shall return to the Chicks energized, refreshed and inspired, but for right now here’s what I’m painting!

Sweet Sloth by Judy Takács

You may not have heard of it…and that would be fitting…but lately there has been a quiet revolution of introverts. 

“Introvert” is the new label of coolness, like Jock, Rock Star and Prom Queen from days of yore. Everyone is coming out as an introvert lately; from David Letterman to Meryl Streep from Christine Aguilera to Warren Buffet.

My oldest son just started college this past September at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, ranked by Huff Post as one of the top ten trendiest colleges in the country. Their required summer reading was, “Quiet, The Power of  Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking” by Susan Clark.

To me this book choice is no accident and no surprise. Even when I started as an undergrad there, back in the ’80s, Case was a throbbing hotbed of nerdy introverts. (Nerdy is cool now too, thank you billionaires Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and your ilk) My favorite college pastime was seeking out fascinating discussions with individual thinkers who wanted to philosophize on the fringes of the party…and make fun of those who didn’t. This was way more fun than cutting a rug out on the dance floor…but…and here’s the big but…in order to get into fascinating discussions with these fascinating people, someone had to talk first; I had to become an extrovert…ironic, but true. 

I was okay with the extrovert thing though, it was a way to take charge of the shyness and anxiety of my childhood, and I worked really hard at my extrovert skills. You don't have to drag to a party, I will (almost) always chat with a stranger, and bare soul quickly to a new friend. Even my paintings are extroverted…they are all in your face, laughing, high contrast, hot and exaggerated. 

And yes, like all good painters I am thrilled to be alone in my studio for extended periods of meditative paint pushing, but I am still in a crowd; surrounded by the extra large people in my paintings (and of course my wonderful friends on facebook.)

But being an introvert is cool now…and after I spent so many years working on my extrovert skills to get me some of those cool introvert friends, I find myself in the babbling minority doing the hamster work of filling the silences.

Even in my own families…the one I grew up in and the one I spawned…I am the only extrovert; trying to make them not only HAVE fun, but also to visibly demonstrate that they’re having fun, so I won’t feel guilty that I’ve failed in my mission to spread joy. There, I’ve said it, all about me, typical extrovert.

This newfound realization would probably be better expressed on a psychiatrist’s couch than to the throngs who surely read my blog. So, instead I shall present to you a duo of paintings that I’ve been working on during my short hiatus from Chicks.

Both feature my eldest son, before he cut the hair he grew so long…partly because he didn’t want to have to chat with a hairdresser about his college choices and what he likes to do in his spare time. He has let it grow long before and twice donated 12 inch ponytails of pristine hair to Locks of Love to help children with long-term hair loss.

The painting above is “Sweet Sloth” from my budding series on the Seven (not so) Deadly Sins.

The one below is called, simply, “The Introvert.”

The Introvert by Judy Takács

And, this past summer, when my son performed the miracle of actually reading his summer reading before starting at Case, his commentary on the introvert book, “Quiet”  was this…

“The book was kind of obvious; everyone knows that introverts are cooler than extroverts”

Yes, honey, if your mom is an extrovert, it can’t possibly be cool anymore.


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Speaking of cool, if you want to see both these paintings…exhibited for the first time ever, please join me at the now legendary 78th Street Studios Third Friday Art Walk from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m. January 17th. I will be exhibiting these and a nice selection of paintings of men (for a change)…along with a small group of stellar artists as part of the SYZYGY show, curated by Leslie Humez, at the Cleveland West Art League Gallery. A very few copies of my Chicks with Balls book will be for sale at the show, and I'll sign one just for you!

Cleveland West Art League Gallery
78th Street Studios
1305 West 80th Street
Cleveland, Ohio

If you can't make the opening, the CWAL gallery is open every Friday through February 21st for the SYZYGY Show from 11:00 to 4:00, and the show will be up for February's Third Friday Art Walk too on February 21st from 6:00 to 10:00.

Or you can schedule an appointment: (once again, don’t be shy) by calling Dan Nefaros at: 216 456 6503 or you can email him at: cwartleague@gmail.com. Either way check it out. It promises to be a dynamite show!

Last stop before heaven…a heathen paints retired nuns

Just to mix things up a bit, in my Chicks furlough, I found myself in the enviable position of painting beautiful retired nuns. 

Sr. Markie

Just to be clear, none of these nuns posed for me for Chicks with Balls. Though, after hearing their stories, I saw just what an incredible group of unsung heroes these women are… within the Catholic Church, an institution that desperately needs them.

The only reason I'm talking about painting the nuns here on the Chicks blog is to chronicle my art activities during my short inspiration break from Chicks with Balls.

How did I get this gig? My mom hooked me up.

You may know that my mom (a chick with balls herself) is a retired English Professor at Notre Dame College of Ohio. She is not a nun herself…she’s my mom remember…but she is friends with many retired nuns whom she taught with for many years at Notre Dame.

The retirement center at Notre Dame is an incredibly welcoming place where the sisters continue their work, care for each other and are vital alive and active as they transition into old age where they need more care. Such a wonderful model for assisted living, these senior women are friends, and continue to be extremely useful to the world and each other for their whole lives. I was welcomed to a wonderful warm female nest of work, satisfaction, love, prayer and complete confidence that the next stop was heaven.

This project (tentatively called NUN) was very much like my Solon Senior Project where I also set up in a weekly spot and painted beautiful old age. The religion aspect is what pushed at my comfort zone.

I am not Catholic, or Presbyterian like my mom, or a non-practicing Catholic like my dad, or an agnostic like my husband. I am a Heathen. I unapologetically say I am a Proud Heathen to squelch the hopes of my kind-hearted evangelical friends for a potential rebirthing. I’m not “undecided”, because I truly don't see how I can ever make a “decision” on faith and belief… I just want to keep learning, thinking and doing.

You may think a Heathen is a bad thing, but here is the dictionary definition:

Hea•then

a person who does not belong to a widely held religion (esp. one who is not a Christian, Jew, or Muslim) as regarded by those who do.

Well, that’s me.

I’m not an atheist, I do believe in God, but it may just be my better self that I’m talking to. But she helps.

I believe in love…big time.

I also believe in the strength and goodness of humans.

I believe in Karma to a certain extent, but don’t think we should do good for the sake of Karma…or Heaven. I think we should be good for goodness sake…to be the change we want to see in this world (that one's from the Dalai Lama).

I also believe in the pursuit of our own happiness, but never at the expense of the happiness of others. I’m always in pursuit of the win-win situation myself…and I often find it (this is my take-away message from the much maligned Ayn Rand).

But, that will be enough of my sermon.

My concern at Notre Dame was that I wanted to paint these beautiful women without being saved or getting into arguments. I’m a pro-choice, pro-birth control, pro-marriage equality, of-course-there's-evolution… kind of gal, and I wanted to respectfully see the inside of an institution (Catholicism) and way of life (being a nun) which, as a Proud Heathen and outside observer I had never really known or understood.

Much like a tourist in a foreign country I wanted to learn about the nuns. Actually these women are called sisters. Nuns are cloistered, whereas sisters work in the community…this was one of the first things I learned. 

The second thing I learned was that very few of them still wear their nun headgear let alone the full habit. I had pictured the paintings as essays in black, white and red, with these delicious weathered faces peeking through. 

My tourguide for my time at the Health Center was Sr. Annemarie, who, an acomplished pastel artist herself, could not have been more welcoming to me. She arranged for all my subjects to pose, made sure I had publicity within the center so I'd have an audience, and generally created a little slice of heaven for me where all I have to do is come and paint an incredibly beautiful, soulful, fascinating and wise woman each week. Sr. Annemarie also took great care to make sure I had at least a few sisters pose for me who do wear the headgear still.

Sr. Deborah was my first subject.

Sr. Deborah

During our extensive discussions, she did ask me whether I was Catholic. 

I decided to lay the cards on the table and tell her I was a Proud Heathen. Much to my surprise and amazement she expressed no shock…or even what friendly Christians will sometimes say, “No, you’re not, you’re so NICE!”

She accepted my heathen status and we talked about good works, being kind to others, service…and she told me how wonderful it was for me to come and bring art, inspiration and beauty into their midst. I told her the honor was all mine…the heathen was making a win-win situation. Truly, they were doing me a huge favor to indulge my selfish art desires and let me paint them.

You can see the extensive pictures and progressions on my website, under the heading, NUN. On this blog I’ve shown you a few of the paintings which are well on the way. Not calling them done, but I’m very excited about how they are coming out!

Sr. Patricia

Stay tuned to hear about my continued adventures painting the sisters of Notre Dame…and to read about what I learned on my fascinating weekly vacation to the last stop before heaven!

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Now showing in Cleveland!

NUN: Judy Takács paints
retired sisters of Notre Dame

Opening Reception: Thursday night April 10th from 5:00 to 7:00 pm
Clara Fritzsche Library Gallery
Notre Dame College

4545 College Road

South Euclid, Ohio

Show dates April 10 to May 23