{"id":67840,"date":"2025-09-16T16:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/67840\/"},"modified":"2025-09-16T16:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-16T16:01:10","slug":"at-85-alice-matzkin-is-painting-like-never-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/67840\/","title":{"rendered":"At 85, Alice Matzkin is painting like never before"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When the Thomas fire tore through Ventura County in late 2017, it incinerated most of Alice Matzkin\u2019s life\u2019s work. Around 100 of her paintings that were stored in a shed outside her home were lost, including several family pictures and a series of portraits of older people that formed a body of work and a book, \u201cThe Art of Aging<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a devastating loss, but the Ojai artist took it in stride. \u201cIt was shocking, but there was nothing I could do,\u201d she tells me from her art-filled home. \u201cI could either go bang my head against the wall and scream and cry and go nuts, or just say: \u2018It happened. Thank God the house didn\u2019t burn down.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy other thought was, \u2018Well, when we\u2019re dead, the kids won\u2019t have to worry about what to do with all these paintings.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Her sanguine \u2014 and mischievously macabre \u2014 response belies the fact that the fire, coupled with the long years of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused an extended fallow period during which she completely stopped creating art.<\/p>\n

It was a striking pause after a long, successful career as a portrait artist. Her painting of Chelsea Clinton hung in the White House during Bill Clinton\u2019s tenure, and her depictions of Betty Friedan<\/a>, who wrote \u201cThe Feminine Mystique,\u201d and potter Beatrice Wood<\/a> have been featured in the National Portrait Gallery. (Her work on aging was even the subject of an Oprah segment<\/a> in 2001.)<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Alice Matzkin, who once focused on portraiture \u2014 a portrait she painted of Chelsea Clinton once hung in the White House \u2014 now specializes in abstract work. <\/p>\n

(Colin McCarthy \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

Then one day, some two years ago, she heard a voice in her head while sweeping the floor, telling her: \u201cGo to the studio and don\u2019t worry about what you\u2019re going to do. Just go do something.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many of her supplies were cindered, but she found some black charcoal paper and pastels and \u201cstarted doing these bizarre drawings, like stream-of-consciousness stuff.\u201d She \u201cjust couldn\u2019t stop doing them\u201d and completed eight in a period of a few days, before graduating to larger abstract paintings on bigger canvases. She\u2019s now finished 55, several of which are on display at the Farmer and the Cook<\/a> cafe and market in Ojai.<\/p>\n

Matzkin, 85, went through an earlier creative hiatus while she was raising kids from a previous marriage. Then, at 33, she met her current partner, Richard Matzkin \u2014 an author, jazz drummer and sculptor whose own work focuses on male aging.<\/p>\n

Matzkin says their union rekindled their creative sparks after decades of not painting or sculpting. \u201cBeing together woke up our art,\u201d she says. \u201cOur love inspired us to go back to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

When Alice and Richard Matzkin met, they felt a creative spark. <\/p>\n

(Colin McCarthy \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fell in love the first time we went out, on the Santa Monica Freeway,\u201d Matzkin says. \u201cI was driving my little car and he took my hand and said, \u2018You\u2019re so beautiful.\u2019 \u2026 I\u2019m sitting there looking at this guy and I\u2019m like, \u2018This guy is so cute.\u2019\u201d Soon they were making out in a parking lot. (\u201cI don\u2019t make out in parking lots; this was an exception.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Since then, the couple<\/a> have lived in a single-story Ojai home for 33 years, filling it with memories and mementos, including several Buddha statues from their travels. A shelf in their airy studio discreetly catalogs her career highlights: faded photographs with Hillary Clinton and Wood; a copy of the \u201cWho\u2019s Who in American Art\u201d that features Matzkin; a group family photo at the Smithsonian.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Alice Matzkin paints in her new abstract style, surrounded by some of her previous portrait work. <\/p>\n

(Colin McCarthy \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

Sculptures by Richard Matzkin, 82, take up one corner, but the majority of the studio walls are reserved for her artworks. Portraits of older family members dominate, including several deathbed scenes: Matzkin and her mother, and a close-up of Richard Matzkin\u2019s Aunt Kitty with eyes closed and mouth open.<\/p>\n

Aging has been a cornerstone of Matzkin\u2019s work for decades. \u201cI looked in the mirror at 58, and I started noticing that these wrinkles are really starting to show up,\u201d she recalls. \u201cI looked outside and saw that everything was dying: Trees are dying, flowers are dying \u2026 everything dies, except maybe plastic. Everything\u2019s got a cycle, including me. And then I went, \u2018Wait, this is crazy to think that way \u2026 afraid that I\u2019m going to drop dead \u2026 Might as well enjoy life.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Alice Matzkin holds the book she wrote with husband Richard Matzkin that explores aging through their artwork. <\/p>\n

(Colin McCarthy \/ For The Times)<\/p>\n

She began interviewing women over 70, asking what makes life worthwhile, and painting their portraits. Many posed naked, proving that \u201cevery age has its beauty.\u201d Looking back decades later, she says she\u2019s grateful for being able to work through her fears with her art.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not afraid to die,\u201d she insists. \u201cI\u2019m just so grateful for my life. I look at myself and every wart and these arms that look like lizard arms \u2026 All I did was go to bed at night and wake up and there was another wrinkle on that face. What can you do? It\u2019s part of the beauty and accepting it is much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wood was 105 and still throwing pots on her wheel when she was portrayed for the project, reminding Matzkin that \u201cthe well of creativity never runs dry.\u201d It\u2019s been overflowing in her studio lately, and the bright, abstract creations here testify to her new found creative energy \u2014 a drive that sees her working in the studio from dawn to dusk, apparently, and often forgetting to eat. \u201cI\u2019m sitting here painting away like a maniac,\u201d she admits.<\/p>\n

If she starts to see an image appear, she flips the canvas before continuing \u201cand it\u2019s a whole new thing.\u201d The works, which she describes as bizarre and wild and \u201ctotally not boring,\u201d can be rotated and displayed four different ways.<\/p>\n

\"Ojai, \"Ojai, \"Paintings <\/p>\n

As seen in the Matzkins\u2019 studio, from left: Richard Matzkin\u2019s sculptures, his portrait painted by his wife and more of her art. (Colin McCarthy \/ For The Times) <\/p>\n

\u201cIf you really stare at them, you\u2019ll find all kinds of imagery,\u201d she says. \u201cI see things in them that I didn\u2019t see when I was painting.\u201d Bursting forth, for me at least, are birds of paradise, galaxies, floating stairways, even an octopus.<\/p>\n

Now the town\u2019s artsy community \u2014 and visitors \u2014 can see them up close. Was it nerve-racking to stage a new exhibition? \u201cAt first I was thinking, \u2018Golly, this is going to be a challenge,\u2019\u201d she replies. \u201cThen I realized it was just my ego speaking, and it had nothing to do with the actual art, you know, worrying about what somebody thinks. It doesn\u2019t really matter because the truth is, you can\u2019t please everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so precious, to put good vibes out in the world,\u201d she adds. \u201cMy paintings feel like good vibes. Somebody else might run out screaming if they see it, but you know, what can you do? Our intention in life is to bring love into the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Painting in Tongues: Emanations From a Quiet Mind<\/p>\n

Where: <\/b>Farmer and the Cook<\/a>, 339 W. El Roblar Drive in Ojai<\/p>\n

When:<\/b> Through Oct. 6<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the Thomas fire tore through Ventura County in late 2017, it incinerated most of Alice Matzkin\u2019s life\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":67841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[267],"tags":[2429,47407,595,365,362,363,364,47411,9497,366,18,117,19,17,3255,47409,2971,47410,2577,12817,47408,46164,2579,80],"class_list":{"0":"post-67840","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-aging","9":"tag-alice-matzkin","10":"tag-art","11":"tag-arts","12":"tag-arts-and-design","13":"tag-artsanddesign","14":"tag-artsdesign","15":"tag-big-canvas","16":"tag-decade","17":"tag-design","18":"tag-eire","19":"tag-entertainment","20":"tag-ie","21":"tag-ireland","22":"tag-life","23":"tag-long-year","24":"tag-love","25":"tag-ojai-artist","26":"tag-painting","27":"tag-portrait","28":"tag-richard-matzkin","29":"tag-studio","30":"tag-wood","31":"tag-work"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}