INSPIRATION

I’ve been asked many times: “Where do you get your inspiration?” The answer is both simple and complicated. The simple answer would be “from life experiences”. The more complicated answer is “all the experiences that built up over time, each contributing to being inspired at any given moment”. In other words, being in the moment, with the skills and motivation to communicate a feeling I want to express, in the language of art. 

I attribute many of my contemporary paintings on multiple canvases to an inspiring rafting trip on the Colorado River and the long hike out of the Grand Canyon. The experience of seeing layers of colors and shapes, stacked high and wide, can be seen reflected in much of my artwork that followed, with simple presentations to express more complex experiences.

A short one-day introduction to bookbinding, led me to the discovery of unusual and beautiful scraps of handmade paper,  for sale by the pound. I was instantly inspired and motivated to use them with a variety of other paper to create a series of exciting collages.

Additional examples of the inspiration that motivates my art are many and varied: the delight of seeing a full moon or twinkling stars in the night sky;  the rolling tide on a beach filled with exotic  seashells left behind; the stunning beauty of the underwater world of a barrier reef with sunlight streaming through crystal clear water reflecting a cerulean blue color; the sensation of traveling a curvy coastal highway; a casual walk through a forest filled with amazing patterns of light, shadows and opportunities for new discoveries; vast stretches of divided farmland ready for planting and others already in bloom with tulips as far as the eye can see; market displays of fruits and vegetables with their exciting variety of shapes and colors; individual flowers and beautiful gardens; the sensation of a ship in motion and the feeling of being in a city of skyscrapers and exciting architecture.

The list goes on with especially memorable events, such as: black-tie celebrations; wonderful theater productions and concerts; the sight and sounds of 4th of July fireworks exploding in the sky over Coronado Bay; visits to the inspiring sculpture studio of Constantin Brancusi in Paris and the outstanding beautiful light filled Chapel of the Rosary in Vence, France,  designed and decorated by Henri Matisse.

In a rare moment, I tuned into an extraordinary event that was being televised. It was titled: “Parade of the Tall Ships” and it took place in New York Harbor in 1992 to celebrate the Columbus Quincentennial. The coverage of the event was inspiring and brought back memories of my youth growing up in a small New England town with a long maritime history, dating back to the 1600s.

By chance, a year earlier I had purchased several shaped canvases just because I liked the shapes; but, without a plan for how they would evolve into paintings. Seeing the tall ships, remembering the past, and recalling the blank triangular canvas stored in the racks, I knew that it would be the one I would use because the shape worked so well with my imagined finished image; and the excitement that inspired the painting could be achieved with a simple presentation, in keeping with my style of expression.

New experiences, memorable special moments, and supportive wonderful family and friends,  continue to inspire my artwork each day.

— Nancy Kravetz, 2020

DOROTHY FRATT:
tEACHER — meNTOR — friend

Serendipity played an important role in meeting Dorothy Fratt. I was eager to learn how to use acrylic paints and Dorothy came highly recommended by the owner of the art supply store where she purchased supplies. I called her and arranged to begin classes. Little did I know that this would be the happy beginning of the rest of my life!  Dorothy was a delightful, enthusiastic, inspiring, and well-known, highly regarded contemporary artist and a fabulous teacher!

Dorothy started her new students by teaching the basics. We learned how to stretch and prime our own canvases and how to set up a palette for a full complement of colors. For each class she set up an arrangement for us to paint. They were very unusual and different each time. Some were simple, such as a collection of rocks or seashells or a pair of old worn chukka boots. Others were more complex such as a combination of a variety of items that would require a light, medium or dark mix of colors. Every set-up presented a different challenge and new experiences mixing colors.

We learned to use acrylic paints on primed and unprimed canvases for different results, using either brushes, sponges or both. Most of the paintings were done at an easel, however, in some instances they were done with the canvas on the floor and then stretched on stretcher bars when the painting was finished.

Acrylic paints were difficult to get used to after using oil paint for so many years. Dorothy made it much easier with helpful suggestions. Even after I finished studying with her, she was very helpful problem solving the unexpected. For example, one painting had been mishandled and there was a big bump on the surface. She simply said: “Use a damp sponge to wipe down the back of the canvas and let it dry.” For a design issue, her comment was: “Turn the canvas upside down and perhaps you will get your answer.” When it came to color issues, she was amazing! She could look at a painting and instantly suggest subtle color recommendations to improve it.

During classes there were lots of casual conversations related to art. Dorothy would go from easel to easel giving individual help to students, and there were occasions when she would stop to comment. I recall her stopping to look at a painting I was working on and saying: “That looks similar to an Arthur Dove painting.”  When I was in her watercolor class, she paused at my easel to say: “That reminds me of a Turner watercolor.” In each situation, she would go to her art library and show me other works by those artists. It was a great learning experience, and very exciting. It also motivated me to read more about the world of art.

If there was an article in Art In America, she thought we would find interesting, she shared that information, too. When there was an important art auction in progress, she would comment on the painting being auctioned.  Dorothy was a “born teacher” and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to study with her.  I felt like the classes included a complete art world education along with painting lessons. It was very exciting! My passion for art took on a whole new meaning and I looked forward to each class.

As a mentor and longtime friend, Dorothy was the best! She encouraged me, along with her other students, to enter shows and she knew when and where they were being held. She took a personal interest in all of us. 

In 1971, there was a “Four Corners Biennial of Painting and Sculpture” at the Phoenix Art Museum. Dorothy encouraged me to enter the show with a painting. On the day of the opening, she called and said: “Let’s go together.” She picked me up. We went together and it was a wonderful show—my first time entering a painting at a museum. At the end of the reception when awards were announced, I was surprised and delighted to receive a 1st Place Purchase Award from the First National Bank of Arizona!

In 1973, Dorothy entered my name for an “Artist Of The Month” show at the Lawyers Club in downtown Phoenix, and that was my 1st Solo Exhibition.

In 1974, Dorothy arranged studio working space for three of her students at Yares Gallery in Scottsdale, where a small building was for rent. Jackie Carson, Pam Gilbert and I shared the space and when we had a show of our work, Dorothy came to help us hang the artwork in the space we called “The Studio”. 

Dorothy Fratt, teacher and mentor was a dear friend for close to fifty years. We kept in touch often with lengthy phone calls, visits and letters during the summer. And it was always exciting to attend the beautiful solo exhibitions of her artwork at Yares Gallery. I think of her often with fond memories and gratitude for the time we shared and for the enormous impact she had on my life.

— nancy kravetz, 2021

A PASSION FOR ART

My passion for art took hold early in life as a teenager growing up in a small picturesque New England town, steeped in seafaring history and surrounded by beautiful forests, rivers, freshwater ponds and the Atlantic Ocean. 

The extraordinary natural beauty in this and other locations has continued to inspire me throughout a long creative journey that started in Newburyport, Massachusetts in the early 1950s with oil painting and life drawing classes with a local artist and teacher, Sam Sargent, at the Sargent School of Painting. At that time I was encouraged by my high school art teacher to attend the Junior-Senior Prize Program at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts.

Years later, after college, marriage, a growing young family and a permanent move to Arizona, I resumed  oil painting and studied with Don Ruffin at his studio near South Mountain in Phoenix doing still life compositions, portraits, and a few desert scenes.

The transition from Northeast to Southwest brought with it the excitement of an entirely new visual landscape. The Arizona desert, with its variety of unusual cacti, soft desert colors, gorgeous sunsets, wide open spaces, unusual terrain with amazing rock formations, radiant light and sunshine and the awe-inspiring beauty of Sedona and the Grand Canyon, profoundly inspired my artwork.

For about two years starting in 1969, I studied acrylic painting, design and color theory, life drawing and watercolor painting with Dorothy Fratt, a well-known, highly regarded contemporary artist and a fabulous teacher, mentor and friend. Dorothy’s classes were life-changing and transformative. They were small, informal and designed to maximize painting experiences for a full exploration of color. She was enthusiastic, inspiring, and shared her art library, catalog collection and vast knowledge of classic and contemporary art with her students. She also introduced us to exciting art collections such as the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC, the Barnes Collection in Philadelphia and the Cone Collection in Baltimore, just to name a few.

When she heard that Bob and I were planning a trip to Italy, starting in Florence, she was excited and suggested many famous works of art to see. She knew the exact museum, gallery, church, monastery, chapel and piazza where we would find each of the treasures. After she completed the list she said: “And,  be sure to see the Giotto frescoes in Padua.”  We did and the experience was beautiful – a small, intimate, light-filled, quiet and peaceful chapel decorated with the soft sublime time-worn colors of the frescoes.

Dorothy was kind, gentle and very helpful with critiques. She encouraged her students to enter juried shows, take chances, and if a rejection letter arrived in the mail, to be able to put it in perspective – all helpful advice for moving on in the future. With her guidance I was gradually developing my own voice or style of painting and I had my first solo exhibit in 1973.

Since then, my artwork has appeared in many galleries, juried art exhibitions, and museums in the southwest, where it has received outstanding awards and recognition. It is also represented in numerous private and corporate art collections.

In 2007, I took time from painting to finish writing a family history that I had been researching for many years. Finally, in 2010 after “Remember Me To The Little Ones: A Family History” was published, I returned to painting full-time.

In 2017, I was delighted and privileged to have the opportunity for a solo exhibition of my artwork at the Shemer Art Center, a unique and charming restored historic home dedicated to supporting and showcasing Arizona artists. The show was well attended, and I was especially thrilled to have the artwork viewed in the warmth and beauty of this “home for the arts”.

— Nancy Kravetz, 2019

A STORY ABOUT A STORY, PART 1

At a critical moment during one of our family history discussions, and to motivate me to write a memoir, Bob asked: "How would you feel if your grandmother left a collection of stories of her life growing up in a small European shtetl, raising a family, their subsequent journey to America and adjustment to a new home?” My reply was: “Of course, I would be thrilled with such a treasure!”

That image combined with a collection of stories, interviews, family trees, photos, documents and other memorabilia was all the enticement and inspiration I needed to get started. After experimenting with several ideas, I finally decided to focus on the generation that came before me while some of the people were still here to tell their stories. There was a time-sensitive richness from the past that could be lost entirely to future generations, and I wasn't willing to take that chance. Vignettes of my own lifetime experiences were put on hold to be completed at another time.

My original plan started with a one page note to my grandchildren dated the fifth night of Hanukkah, 2004 and was to continue with a children's story book describing my father's early life and journey to America. It was an adventure for him, and I was sure it would be a delightful and enjoyable experience for me to write such a story. My father's birthday was celebrated each year on the fifth night of Hanukkah and my intention was to continue his story each year as a gift to the grandchildren.

Time passed, young grandchildren became young adults and I felt more motivated to take the project in a whole new direction. The idea for a children's book was abandoned and the project took on a whole new direction that culminated successfully in 2010 with the publication of: Remember Me to The Little Ones A Family History, a greatly expanded, complex, more inclusive, adult oriented book for all ages.

The gradual evolution of the manuscript had a rocky beginning and I owe a debt of gratitude and special thanks to Sherman Yellen, a cousin through marriage and a gifted nationally recognized playwright. His perceptive and clearly itemized list of valuable suggestions for improving my original manuscript — which was caving in under the weight of too much confusion and historic background information — was pivotal in helping me move forward with a suggestion to write a more personal family history with greater focus on the people and their stories.

At that point the chaos was reduced to a simple goal to preserve the legacy of the past for future generations in a collection of stories woven together with some sense of order, clarity, and beauty. It seemed simple enough, however, it was a first-time project for me, an incredible learning experience and a lot more work than I ever imagined. I wavered between confident, happy and highly motivated to feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. The details and decisions that needed to be made went on endlessly day after day. Critical new information became available after the completed manuscript was already sent to the publisher. There were delays and some wonderful stories and photographs that arrived too late to be included in the book. All the while, new marriages took place. Babies were born and there were deaths in the family. Family trees were continuously needing to be updated. It was very stressful. Any one of the issues mentioned would have been easy to resolve, but many of them came together at the very end, with the press ready to roll. Fortunately, I had the help, patience and understanding of many kind and generous people who shared their professional expertise as everything finally came together so beautifully.

In 1982, Bob and I were introduced to Arthur Kurzweil, a highly respected well-known genealogist, and his book: From Generation To Generation: How To Trace Your Jewish Genealogy and Personal History. He came to Phoenix again many years later to give another lecture for an adult education group called “Passages.” Bob and I had dinner with him and then we spent a short amount of time together at our home before the lecture. During that time, Bob suggested that I show Arthur a copy of my manuscript. He was encouraging, asked some questions, and made some suggestions. As we were about to leave for the lecture, he said: “You are planning to have an index, aren't you?” I had never thought about an index, until he mentioned it. However, I knew, instantly, that it was important to add one to the book. The index, aside from being helpful to readers, turned out to be a link to discovering a new branch of my family tree. By coincidence, after the book was published, a relative was told by a friend doing family history research, that his last name was in the index of my book. He called me to introduce himself and we discovered that we were definitely related! Another large branch was added to the family tree!

A STORY ABOUT A STORY, CONTINUED

Even as the presses started to roll, including the quickly added index and a very thought-­provoking forward by Arthur Kurzweil, I was working on an outline for a supplement with all the material I had hoped to include, and the surprise amount of information uncovered after the book was published. With all the updating information for family trees that took place throughout the development of the manuscript, I quickly realized the family history will always be a “work in progress.” This small project is “a snapshot in time” spanning 100 years yet growing exponentially every year. Family history is not just about the past. Every day, living in the present, we are contributing to that flow.

Sharing Remember Me To The Little Ones with so many people, the result of extra books available from a required minimum order from the publisher, and experiencing a huge number of overwhelmingly positive responses, has made me realize that the gift I gave to others was a gift returned to me tenfold. The book created a “life of its own” after it was distributed to family, friends and genealogy libraries in the United States and Israel. My life at that time, was filled with what I've called “instant celebrity status,” for lack of a better description. It left me astonished, delighted but somewhat bewildered and surprised, and at times a little bit uncomfortable.

Without realizing it until long after the books were distributed, I got answers to questions I asked myself when I was weary or discouraged during the years it took to complete the book: “Will anyone really be interested? Will what I am doing matter to anyone in the future?” The flood of wonderful responses from recipients has given me the confidence to answer “yes” to both of my questions. Just knowing that the generations — those I know and those I will never get to meet — will be just as pleased with the gift passed down to them, as those who received it during my lifetime, is my reward.

Since the book was published, it has taken on a life of its own and there have been many wonderful surprises along the way — happy recipients, grateful relatives, unexpected publicity, wonderful responses, newly found relatives and friends, telephone reunions with people from the past in Newburyport, and the list has continued to the present time. It has been an extraordinary adventure, beyond anything I imagined. In 2020, one of the most exciting family discoveries came about through a DNA connection that would not have been possible in the early years of research. I tried many times to locate descendants of the Robert Wein family, originally from Laconia New Hampshire, and finally we were able to reconnect and share family history! It was a thrilling discovery!

Another of a long list of exciting and memorable experiences took place at the Newburyport Public Library when I visited the genealogy archives to thank Jessica Gill for her help and to deliver a copy of the book. At that time, she created a book plate, registered the book on the World Catalog and the library consortium. She also introduced me to the collection of Bertha Woodman's Oral History Interviews. I was stunned and thrilled to discover that there was an interview with my father, Elliott Wein, among them! It was a wonderful interview that answered many questions I never thought to ask.

About a month after I mailed a copy of the book to the Yiddish Book Center for their library, I called to see if it had arrived. The person that answered the phone told me that the book had arrived and that there was someone in the library using it that day to research background information for a production of “Fiddler on The Roof!” I was delighted to learn that the book was being used that way, and I hope it was helpful.

Shortly after the book was published and I was considering a supplement to follow, I came across an old photo that was given to me by a cousin in France who had visited relatives living at Kibbutz Ein Dor in Israel. I had tried on several occasions to reach them, sending letters by regular mail, but without success. Wondering if they still lived there after so many years, I decided to try one more time and called Kibbutz Ein Dor directly by phone. To my surprise, delight and sheer amazement, the person who answered the phone was a relative! We had a wonderful conversation and continued corresponding over several years.

Another family group was added to the tree!

Another surprise occurred In July 2011, a year after the book was published. Rudi Ramos, the designer of the book, called to let me know that it received an Honorable Mention Award for a book design in the Art Category from Rocky Mountain Book Publishers. He was very happy and I was delighted to hear the news!

After almost a decade the dining room table of our home was no longer used as an office. The extra long table was closed and finally cleared down to the beautiful wood, so lovingly dusted, polished and enjoyed — waiting for the wonderful family dinners and celebrations that took place there throughout the years, to resume once again. The table, no longer used as a writing desk, editorial center, filing location, research layout space and distribution center to handle the endless lists, folders, files and piles of boxes and notebooks filled with material, in progress, for two books: Remember Me To The Little Ones, A Family History and then Bob's family history, The Golden Medina, completed in 2014.

After the book was published, I was asked the question: “If you knew then, what you know now, what would you do differently?” My answer was that I would develop a beautifully finished chapter including pictures to send to relatives, early on, to motivate them to cooperative and send information in a timely manner. Bob published The Golden Medina 4 years later and had the benefit of sending my book as a sample to relatives that were reluctant to cooperate when he approached them for information for his and their family history he was writing. After they received my book, they were more than happy to cooperate with him, and the results were wonderful! They were thrilled with his book, and it was a pleasure for him to work with them.

I was often asked two more questions by interviewers and other individuals: “How long did it take” and “How much did it cost?” My answer to both questions was: “Too long and too much.”

Throughout the years since the book was published, I have given it as a gift to friends and friends of friends. A few have shared their own memoirs. I have enjoyed them very much and it has motivated me to read other memoirs, such as: The Hare with Amber Eyes by Edmund DeWaal, Tender To the Bone by Ruth Reichl, Adventures Against Their Will by Joanie Holzer Schirm, and Outwitting History by Aaron Lansky, just to name a few. Each book is, in its own way, a fascinating and exciting memoir.

Throughout the years since the book was published, I have given it as a gift to newly acquired friends and family members in the US, Israel. France, and Argentina. Occasionally, perhaps two or three times a year, I receive a call or note from a family member or friend to tell me how much the book has meant to them — a child or young adult using it as a reference for a school project, a person relating to a similar story in their own family, someone just enjoying a trip down memory lane, a nephew letting me know he read it a second time and how much he appreciated it, a cousin who expressed how happy and grateful she was that stories from the past were preserved and a granddaughter who calls often when she discovers new family information with comments, such as “I never knew that when Great-Grandfather Elliott Wein was a young boy, he liked to go mushroom hunting in the forest!” In 2016 I received a very moving note from a cousin expressing how meaningful the book was for his mother, who kept it at her bedside until she passed away.

As for me, I consider Remember Me to The Little Ones: A Family History to be one of the most meaningful accomplishments in my life, second only to raising a wonderful family along with my husband, Bob. The family history continues daily and with each generation. In the meantime, I've returned to focusing on creating artwork which gives me great pleasure, adding joy to my life and happiness to those who enjoy the paintings.

— Nancy Kravetz, 2025