by Doug Hickerson
Jeanne Maxwell, daughter of Betty Eksten, stands near the painting her mother did of her over sixty years ago when she was about three years old.Two residents of Lakeside Beikirch Care Center have been honored for their art work by LeadingAge New York, stating to each in an award letter, “The judges recognized your creativity and talent.” Betty C. Eksten and Julia Gibbs each had a painting selected from 230 state-wide entries to be included among only 70 paintings in a traveling exhibit. The paintings will be on display at the organization’s offices in Latham, N.Y. and will appear at its conferences in May, September and November this year.
In addition to being selected for the traveling exhibit, Betty Eksten’s painting received a Merit Award.
“I was born with a paint brush and have been painting all my life,” said 94 year old Betty. She has done original paintings in all media, with horses and dogs a prominent theme. Her works have been exhibited in many major cities, including Rochester. She has taught art at Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery. Several decades ago, she took photos in Sibley’s photo studio and supervised young women in hand coloring sepia photos, the only color photos at the time.
Betty Eksten (left) and Julia Gibbs show one of their favorite paintings. Their paintings chosen for a traveling exhibition were not available. The winning oil painting by Betty is a German Shepherd dog, mother of the dog shown here. Julia’s winning painting of Cleopatra is part of her multi-cultural theme illustrated by “Geisha Girl” which she is holding, done in craft paint on canvas.“She has been quite a well-known artist in the Rochester area for years,” said Betty’s daughter, Jeanne Maxwell, visiting during a recent interview. Betty used to teach and paint with friends at her dining room table. Now, many of them come to Beikirch each week to paint and learn from her.
Betty also has bred and trained horses for the race track and for jumping, another skill she says came to her naturally. And, she has used the same talent breeding and training German Shepherds, including many champions, contributing some for training as seeing-eye dogs. Betty also has conducted dog obedience classes in the local area.
Julia Gibbs just finished her painting “Geisha Girl” (see photo) hours before the interview. Why the oriental theme? “I try to do an around the world type thing,” she said about the variety of paintings in her room, including Egyptian and African images. The painting which won recognition by LeadingAge New York was a “double image of Cleopatra,” Julia said. About the African painting in her room, she said, “I had a vision of doing a black woman, then I got more visions and it is like a collage,” a technique she has never used before.
Julia paints whenever she gets the inspiration, using craft paint on a framed canvas. “I keep myself busy,” she said about her sewing, crocheting, singing and playing instruments. She also uses her artistic talent to help decorate the Care Center for holiday events such as 4th of July, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Christmas. At Christmastime 2011, Julia handcrafted over 100 holiday cards to show appreciation to the staff and residents at Beikirch.
LeadingAge New York, founded in 1961, represents more than 600 public not-for-profit continuing care providers in the state, including nursing homes and similar institutions. They employ 150,000 professionals serving more than 500,000 New Yorkers annually. Nursing Home Week just ended, running May 12 through May 18.
(Note: The winning paintings by both artists are in the traveling exhibit and not available for this story. The photo shows each artist with another one of her favorite paintings).
