Telling our Stories award at Carnegie Arts Center of Turlock

More good news! My watercolor portrait, “Small Hearts Embrace the Whole World” won an honorable mention in the Carnegie Arts Center of Turlock show “Telling our Stories!”

Here’s a little bit about the painting:

The lettering in the background of this painting is Yiddish, the traditional language of European Jews before the Shoah. The title of the painting is the translation. The subject is my husband’s aunt.

When my husband and I were courting, I met her. I was nervous that she might reject me, a goye (non-Jew). But she patted the couch next to her and said, “Sit down! I’ve been wanting to meet you.” I felt like I’d found another family.

Her birth language was Yiddish, learned from her parents who immigrated to America in the early part of the 20th century. Some years ago, at the behest of my husband, we studied this expressive, wry, deeply meaningful language. Although his parents spoke it fluently, they didn’t teach him. He felt that lack deeply, and wanted to reclaim the Yiddish Keit part of his heritage. I guess I reclaimed a little bit of it too!

I painted this portrait to honor her and also my husband’s family, who all embrace the world and work to make it a better place.