A post-career turn toward art keeps octogenarian abstract painter Elinore Bucholtz active.
Since moving to Seattle from New York City in 2017, 86-year-old abstract painter Elinore Bucholtz has had solo shows at Joe Bar on Capitol Hill, Caffe Ladro in Edmonds, Fresh Flours Bakery on Beacon Hill, and Equinox Studios in Georgetown. Capitol Hill Art Walk showed her work at Chophouse Row, Starbucks, Ada’s Technical Books and Cafe, and Roy Street Coffee & Tea. Last year alone, her paintings have been displayed at Capitol Hill’s Kismet Salon & Spa, she was featured on the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog and in Northwest Prime Time, and she was named Seattle Refined Artist of the Week.
Not bad for a former New York City public school teacher who started painting after retiring at age 56 and enrolling in workshops at the Art Students League of New York.
Born in British Palestine in 1938, Bucholtz and her father Samuel, mother Rena, and older sister Edna experienced a harrowing, three-month journey emigrating to America During World War II. “The United States government thought that German general Erwin Rommel was coming through the desert to take over,” she explains. “They told us to get out as fast as we could.”
According to Bucholtz’s late father, her mother’s stomachache prevented passage on the first available ship—a lucky break in hindsight, considering the ship was bombed and sank. Instead, the family booked a boat out of Port Said, Egypt, traveling first by train some 450 miles to Cairo when she was two years old and then another 125 miles to Port Said.
“My father told me the station was bombed as our train left Cairo,” she adds. Her family sailed on three different ships—skirting open ocean combat and rough weather, according to Samuel—before arriving at Ellis Island. “My father said he held me up to see the Statue of Liberty, but I don’t remember that.”
Her family lived in New York for a few years before moving to Arizona and eventually settling in California. Bucholtz majored in English and American Literature at the University of California Los Angeles and moved to New York City, where she taught junior high school English for 25 years.
Bucholtz moved to Seattle to be closer to her son, Sam, and daughter-in-law, Ireland. Her two-bedroom Capitol Hill apartment serves as her residence and painting studio, while a storage unit in Seattle holds roughly 250 original paintings. She recently shared some insights into her experiences in life and art.
“New York had everything I wanted.”
“I was 23 when I moved to New York in 1961. It had everything I wanted—opera, concerts, museums, and Broadway. I found a Manhattan studio apartment I could afford. My first job was [teaching English at a junior high school]in Queens. I took several buses and subways to get to work. I was late every day. After a few years, I found a job teaching at a junior high school in Manhattan, closer to home.”
“I never dreamed of making art before I retired. I didn’t even doodle.”
“When I retired, I asked myself what I enjoyed doing. I enjoyed visiting New York City’s art museums and seeing other artists’ work. So, I decided to try it myself and I got hooked. I’ve been painting for 30 years. I never dreamed of making art before I retired. I couldn’t draw anything when I was young. I didn’t even doodle.”
“Color and shape were enough.”
“My early paintings were representational and figurative. I painted people and objects. I haven’t done those in years. A couple of years into taking workshops at the Art Students League of New York, I was tired of drawing or painting leaves, trees, or fruit. I tried abstract painting, just shapes and colors, which worked for me. I was very comfortable with it. Color and shape were enough for me.”
“My paintings dance or sing.”
“I think of my art in terms of ‘abstract lyricism.’ My paintings have motion—almost like they dance or sing—rather than just sitting there. Today, all my work is abstract. I use acrylic on canvas because it dries quickly and I can paint over it if I make a mistake.”
“[Art] just happens.”
“I met a young man who asked me how I came up with ideas for what to paint. I couldn’t say because I take a brush, put paint on the canvas, and then see where I should go. It’s not anything I work out ahead of time. It just happens. On the other hand, my paintings are much freer than I’ve seen other people do. Maybe that’s because I didn’t go to a formal art school.”
“A psychic told me I would live to be 105 years old. Who knows?”
“At one point, I had an operation, and my son, Sam, who had moved to Seattle many years before, came to New York. He told me he wanted to take me back to Seattle with him. He works hard and I couldn’t expect him to go back to New York every time I had a health issue. My son and daughter-in-law live about a block away. I usually paint the first half of the day before I go out for a walk in the afternoon. I had friends over for ice cream cake on my 86th birthday last November. I went to a psychic once and they told me I would live to be 105 years old. Who knows?”
Seattle journalist Todd Matthews has written for more than two dozen print and online publications in the past 25 years. His work is collected online at wahmee.com.