The Sun Sunnyvale's Newspaper Photograph by George Sakkestad Artist Maxine Solomon looks at one of her paintings, 'Who Is to Teach?'Solomon's work is on display at the Sunnyvale Creative Art Center Gallery. Traveling artist captures human spirit By Sarah Quelland Local artist Maxine Solomon is a down-to-earth woman whose paintings meld her experiences in the United States, Latin America, Asia and Africa into stark portraits of the human spirit. She now brings these works from her San Francisco studio to the Sunnyvale Creative Art Center Gallery in an exhibition featuring four female artists, which is called "In a Sea of Eternal Plastic Flowers: The Education of Four Artists." Solomon appears with artists Pok Chi Lau, Lucy I. Cain Sargeant and Carla Trefethen from Jan. 8 through Feb. 27. "It's a beautiful show with luscious paintings and behind the paintings there are a lot of very interesting ideas," said Jan Rindfleisch, director of the Euphrat Museum, the group curating the exhibit. Solomon says of her art, "It is not pain, poverty or hunger that I seek to express. Rather, what moves me is the common thread that binds all people; the palpable yet inexplicable quality that makes us human." Her oil paintings capture that quality. Her understated portraits come to life on the canvas through a skillful buildup of layers, with each affecting the next to create the final image. The result is a subtle wash of colors and brush strokes from which real people emerge. Solomon spent a great deal of time in Zambia, while her husband worked with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), an organization dedicated to assisting small-business development. While there, Solomon says, "I got very involved with the people." Living for several months at a time in this African country rife with poverty, unemployment and the AIDS virus, Solomon found her niche. She conducted painting workshops in rural communities using acrylic wall paints. "We did a lot of work on painting what was meaningful for them," she says. Closer to home, Solomon has worked in Santa Clara County with low-income families and homeless people who, she says, have also touched her life and her art. After visiting their homes to assess and report their needs for a local community service organization, Solomon says, "I found myself getting very involved with them and with their problems." She adds, "I [began] to realize there was a common thread that ran through humanity"--a theme she consistently returns to. Solomon's work evolves in part from sketches and reference photographs, but mainly, she emphasizes, it comes from emotions and memories. "The way I feel about the people comes out in all the paintings. Those experiences are all in there because the people are there." Sometimes, she says, she steps back from a painting and the face of someone she once knew is looking back at her. She says it always surprises her because "I never put it there." Solomon first began painting at age 8, when her mother gave her paints for her birthday. She has been painting off and on ever since. There have been stretches in her life when she did not paint because running a women's apparel business and raising three children made time scarce. Now that her children are grown and she is no longer in the retail business, Solomon has time to nurture her talent and her passion. She says for her, painting "gets to be quite an addiction. If you don't get to paint for a while, you feel like you need a fix." With more free time on her hands, Solomon plans to return to Zambia. "I had some absolutely fantastic experiences there," she recalls with a smile. For more information about the exhibit contact Jan Rindfleisch at 864-8836. For directions to the gallery or questions about hours call 730-7731. The Sunnyvale Creative Art Center Gallery is located at 550 E. Remington. [ Back to Contents Page | Sunnyvale Sun Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Sunnyvale Sun, December 23, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.