Quote de jour
"There is no abstract art. You must always start with something. Afterward you can remove all traces of reality."
                                                                                                                                                                         ~Pablo Picasso

I'm fond of second acts, for people or places. In a drafty, converted old factory at 145 Palisade St. in Dobbs Ferry N.Y., new life abounds in artist's studios. One of the latest new studios belongs to Eleanor Goldstein. I had the good fortune to meet her during a recent studio tour sponsored by The Rivertowns Art Council http://www.riverarts.org/ 

Meeting artists with their work is always interesting to observe, but more so in the intimacy of their studios. For many artists, it's a painful process to watch the public view their art.  It's a vulnerable unpeeling of oneself, not unlike being naked. Some artists are shy and would rather be skinned alive than discuss their artistic process. Others revel it like carnival barkers, their egos or greed to find a buyer, unmasked. Finding an artist with an articulate balance of passion and charm is rare, but I found it with Eleanor or 'Ellie' Goldstein. She welcomed me into her partitioned studio with a wall of north-facing windows like a long lost friend. We clicked right away as birds of a feather do, without rhyme or explanation.

What first grabbed my attention was an abstract painting on a black background. I squinted at it with a vague sense of recognition and laughed when Ellie told me it was the Westchester County Airport. I'd recently arrived there on a night flight. No wonder it looked familiar.



My eyes happily darted from wall to wall, but then she whipped out her latest sketchbook to show me her latest passion: drawing nightscapes with pastels on black paper. She was so excited about sharing her work, you'd think she was in her twenties. Her energy is contagious and like all true artists, she inspires. I marveled at her ability to comfortably straddle two worlds. In one, she is a married, suburban grandmother. In the other, she is an artist who has always painted since early childhood as a student at the renowned Art Student's League in Manhattan.


Eleanor Goldstein with two favorites. Her muse has shifted over the years in style and mediums, but she is probably best known for her powerful and...


atmospheric landscapes. You can feel nature in all her elements, shifting and pulsing with a life of its own.



Outside the studio, in the corridor, Eleanor Goldstein in front of some press clippings and one of her drawings.

I know as an artist myself, how unnerving it can be to show one's work. Not everyone is going to like what you do, but every artist must have confidence and belief in themselves; to speak their truth. I'd like to think it becomes easier with time. There's a freedom that comes with being older and more experienced. But, even having a huge body of work is no panacea for fear. I've never met an artist who didn't have a moment of anxiety when faced with a blank canvas. Ellie is no different. She says, "Each new canvas is like starting over." The secret is having the passion to try new things, to take chances, to just keep creating no matter what. Ellie has inspired me to do just that.

My favorites? A triptych of a stormy landscape and an oblong canvas of Asian lilies.

 A copy of her impressive resume.