Of Art, Hope, Joy...

My Aunt, Margarita Stipnieks, was a remarkable artist and memorable person. Following her early years growing up and studying in Latvia, with her family she escaped the communist take-over of that country and emigrated to Australia, where she spent most of her adult life, returning to Latvia for the last few years of her life.  Even during the hardest times, she found refuge in her creativity.  I have a few of her watercolors painted on scraps of paper bags from the late 40's when she was living in refugee camps in Germany,

a treasured oil portrait that she painted of my mother in traditional Latvian garb during that same period,

and several black-and white mother-and-child charcoal sketches that remind me not only of my aunt but, looking into the haunted eyes of the mother in the sketch, the bleak life they were leading at the time.

Despite these hard times disrupting her life and those of her loved ones, my aunt was, to use a term I learned from a friend a few days ago, a "surthriver":  she not only survived the hand life dealt her, she thrived, and continued to learn, experiment, and grow as both artist and person throughout her life.  When I spoke to her on her 100th birthday a couple of years ago, asking how she was doing, her answer was a lively "Oh don't I just have everything! I can still see, I can still walk, my mind is still working, and I am surrounded by the most wonderful family and friends!  How could I possibly be richer?"

Watching the continually evolving style of her art, one would never guess at the losses and hardships she endured, nor would they guess at her advanced age when some of the pieces that follow were painted.  What they would see and recognize, is an artist with joy in her soul, empathy for the human experience, and recognition of the beauty surrounding her.  

I strive each day to become more like her!

Examples of later art: