A Golden Rainbow

The one-woman show was off, off, off Broadway. I knew the performer, so I didn’t want to miss the event, even though I had to go alone. I chatted with her after and left; since it was already dark, I was squeamish about walking to the subway alone. I noticed a young couple walking in the same direction who had also talked to the performer. I asked if I could walk with them. We became what felt like lifelong friends during that short walk and brief time prior to our trains’ arrival. Their interests were my interest so we exchanged phone numbers and I Invited them for dinner.

Stan was a professor of studio art at Hofstra University and Ellen worked for Scholastic Magazine and had published many children’s books. After chatting and getting acquainted, I took them on a tour of our house which largely exhibits work by my husband and me. Ben does sculpture and has built all of our chests and cabinets. I paint, do needlework and ceramics. I was anxious to show off our work to the art professor. As we walked around, Stan looked and nodded, and at the next piece, looked and nodded, and looked and nodded. When we came to the kitchen, he saw a number of my still-life watercolors, and Stan looked and nodded. On the edge of my kitchen wainscoting, there is an 11/14-inch unframed acrylic painting done by my five-year-old granddaughter Lena. It has been sitting on the kitchen ledge for fourteen years (Lena is entering Columbia University in the Fall). When Stan came to this child’s art, he gasped and emoted, “I LOVE IT, I LOVE IT.” This work of art got an emotional reaction from the art professor. Nothing else in our house moved him and may not even have gotten a passing grade in his class at Hofstra.

Needless to say, I LOVE Lena’s painting too and have it on display in my kitchen today. The subject would be considered a child's typical landscape, a house, blue sky and clouds. Lena’s color choice and composition make the painting special and charming. She has depicted a large warm pink house with eight bright orange windows and an orange door that beckons the viewer into a warm interior. The dancing clouds touch the house but are not ominous. As an adult looking at the painting, I see the clouds as outlines of cute dog faces. A most unique aspect of the painting is that Lena surrounded the scene with a border or a rainbow of numerous golden circles, each circle containing a dollar symbol.

Some symbols that are meant to be dollar signs are what a five-year-old might draw, an “S” drawn backwards. When Lena first made the painting, she explained that the yellow rainbow border was “Gelt.” She reminded us that whenever we visited her in California, we always brought her “Gelt.” This is chocolate candy covered with gold foil to look like coins of money. Hence the Yiddish word “Gelt” and hence the dollar signs. The eyes of the viewer are led around the entire painting with this yellow border. In a small red area on the bottom there is a lineup of children who love Lena and are waiting for her to come out to play.

Ethyl H.

July 2020