PAINTING • SCULPTURE • CERAMICS • PUBLISHING • WORKSHOPS
STANWOOD HOUSE
CHAIM
CHAIM
Chaim Bezalel was born in New York City in 1949 and grew up in Dobbs Ferry, NY. He received a B.S. in Radio, TV, and Film from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. After graduating, he spent several years on his own photography, working at a variety of jobs, some of them for photo-essays. In 1988 he moved to Israel and established Bezalel-Levy Editions which published his and his wife’s work in various media under a combined signature of Bezalel-Levy. He has published ten books, four in collaboration with his wife, which include his artwork and writing. He currently works in painting, ceramics, photography, film, and music in mixed media. He is a published poet.
Objects of Veneration
An artist’s homage to the anonymous artisans of the past. As a boy, I collected handmade objects from all over the world. Only later did I begin to learn the meaning of these objects within their culture or religion. Many of these paintings are from objects in my own collection and some from artifacts I have seen in other collections.
Facial Ossuary I (4000 BCE)
gouache on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in. (2012)
Facial Ossuary II (4000 BCE)
gouache on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in. (2012)
Facial Ossuary III (4000 BCE)
gouache on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in. (2012)
One Kid
gouache on handmade paper, 28 x 20 in. (2013)
Santo Angel (19th Century Philippines)
gouache, charcoal and chalk on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2012)
Terracotta Figurine
gouache on handmade paper, 31 x 21 in. (2012)
Crucifix (1600’s Guatemala)
gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013)
Memsaab (Puppet Head)
gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013)
Relic
gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013)
Three Ancient Chinese Terracotta Zodiac Figures
gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013)
Hathor
gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2014)
Netsuke I
gouache and charcoal on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013) private collection
Santo Virgin
oil pastels on handmade paper, 31 x 21 in. (2017)
Don Quixote
mixed media with crayons, gouache, and soft pastels on handmade rice paper, 26 x 18 in. (2020)
Don Quixote and Sancho Panza
gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2022)
Antique Brass Chanukia (Chanukah Menorah)
gouache on handmade paper, 26 x 20 in. (2020)
“Insomnia” (Nail Fetish, Congo)
gouache on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2013)
The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian
gouache on handmade paper, 20 x 25 ½ in. (2020)
Peruvian Mask.
mixed media with encaustic wax and oil pastels, 31 x 21 in. (2022)
Southwest Indian Mask
encaustics on handmade paper, 25 ½ x 20 ½ in. (2023)
When I See the Blood (I will pass over)
gouache on handmade paper, 34 x 20 in. (2020)
Neolithic Ivory Carving
gouache and crayon on handmade paper, 34 x 16 in.(2022)
African Carving My Mother Gave Me
gouache on handmade paper, 28 x 21 in. (2020)
Imagination (from Hisham’s Palace, Jericho)
oil pastels, graphite, chalk on handmade paper, 27 x 20 in. (2016)
Homer’s Wine Dark Sea,
mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 26 x 20 in. (2020)
Ancient Pottery Shard II
oil pastels on handmade paper, 27 x 20 in. (2017)
Heaven and Earth (Philistine Temple Model)
oil pastels and crayon on handmade paper, 26 x 20 (2015) private collection
Eros
gouache on handmade paper, 34 x 20 in. (2020)
Ancient Coins
mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 27 x 20 in. (2017)
The Golden Calf
oil pastels on handmade paper, 20 x 25 ½ in. (2020)
Water Carrier
oil pastels on handmade paper, 32 x 22 in. (2021)
Twenty-four Buddhas from a Stele
mixed media with encaustic on handmade paper, 31 x 21 in. (2014)
Petroglyphs (Columbia River)
oil pastels, graphite, chalk on handmade paper, 26 x 21 in. (2016)
The Cult of Domesticity (Woman on a Pedestal)
pastels on handmade paper, 32 x 24 in, (2024)
Carved Baroque Angel
crayons and gouache on handmade paper, 36 x 24 in. (2020)
The South Seas
oil on burlap, 27 x 14 x 3 in. (2020)
South Seas II
mixed media with gouache on handmade paper, 33 x 24 in.
Siamese Dancer
mixed media with gouache, 25 x 19 in,
Netsuke (Kabuki musician)
The background is from a block print of Mt. Fuji by Hokusai. Gouache on handmade paper. 22 x 32 in. (2023)
Ivory Horse with Miniature Screen
oil pastels, gouache, and gesso on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in. (2017)
Fertility
mixed media, gouache and charcoal on handmade paper, 21 x 31 in. (2012)
Riders from a Persian Miniature
gouache on handmade paper, 22 x 32 (2013)
Procession from a Grecian Urn
mixed media on handmade paper, 22 x 32 (2014)
Siren Pitcher
mixed media with epoxy paint on handmade paper, 22 x 32 (2014)
Northwest Native American Rattle
gouache on handmade paper, 22 x 32 in. (2013)
Untitled-4eskimo
Untitled-4relinquery
turtle
sheep
rimmonim2
mimbres
mayan
masks
Lebanon
housepost1
herd-boy
elysium
chinese-box-gouache
broken-vessels
birds-head
cherub
bull
netsuke3
Shard-III
NYC – Return for Redemption
In 1975, at the age of 25, I returned to New York, the city of my birth, to decide whether to become an artist or a stockbroker. I had been living in California with a woman who would become my first wife. On a road trip to Chicago, too late to attend her father’s funeral, we had argued and she had let me out of the car in the middle of the night in the middle of Wyoming, a mile from the Greyhound station. I decided to take the first bus, east to New York or west to L.A. The bus brought me to L.A., but after a short visit I decided to return to New York. I was broke, and the city was experiencing a crisis, facing the prospect of bankruptcy. I did become a licenced broker, a job which I pursued for ten years. In 1988, I left the United States for Israel with two suitcases. Ten years later in New York, I came into possession of several boxes of slides which I had taken in 1975. These slides served as subject material for a series of paintings which I began in 2019 and which is a continuing body of work. Also in this exhibit art paintings by my wife, Yonnah, and also our collaborative works.
5 1/2 minute video of paintings by Chaim, by Yonnah, and by our collaboration accompanied by original song, “You Can’t go Home Again” and Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue.”
1975
Balloon Man
oil on paper on panel, 22 x 30 in.
East River
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.
Gorman’s Hamburger
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 21 x 27 in. 8
Interior of My Cousin’s Apartment Building
oil pastels on handmade paper, 18 x 23 in.
Brooklyn Navy Yard
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.
The News
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.
Subway Station Newsstand
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 22 x 30 in.
The Photographer
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 20 x 29 in.
Queensboro Bridge
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 18 x 28 in.
Snackbar, Midnight, Grand Central Station
oil pastels on handmade paper, 18 x 23 in.
Times Square
gouache, crayon, and sparkle on Fabriano paper, 19 ½ x 25 in.
Waiting Room, Grand Central Station
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 18 x 27 in.
Homeless
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 20 x 28 in.
Lincoln Tunnel through the Rearview Mirror
pastels, 18 x 24 in.
Next Stop Penn Station
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 17 x 23 in.
View from a Window
crayon, 19 x 25 in.
Williamsburgh Savings Bank Clocktower
oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 in.
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
oil on canvas board, 16 x 20 in.
Twin Towers
oil on linen, 30 x 22 in.
TIMELINE
Paintings from time-stamped photographs taken by the artist and used as subjects for paintings done in 2020.
Bar at the Brooklyn Museum (5/23/18, 2:10 p.m.)
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 17 x 23 in.
Lexington Avenue Express
pastels on handmade paper, 17 ½ x 45 in. (3/27/10, 12:12 p.m.)
Flatbush Avenue
mixed media with oil sticks and oil pastels, 30 x 22 in. (4/14/17, 11:36 a.m.)
Reflection, Glass and Steel
oil on canvas, 25 x 33 in. (3/31/18, 3:41 p.m.)
My First Grandchild at Far Rockaway Beach
oil, sand on paper mounted on panel, 17 x 23 in. (9/7/17, 4:37 p.m.)
Saint George and the Dragon (UN Plaza)
oil on paper mounted on panel, 17 x 23 in. (5/29/18, 9:27 p.m.)
Third Rail
oil on linen, 18 x 24 in. (5/24/18, 12:49 p.m.)
Study in Red (Upper East Side)
gouache on paper, 28 x 22 in. (5/29/11, 12:49 p.m.)
Wonder Wheel, Coney Island
oil pastels on paper, 30 x 22 in. (4/15/17, 9:50 a.m.)
125th Street Station
oil on paper mounted on wood panel, 17 x 23 in. (time unknown)
Apartment Buildings
soft pastels on handmade paper, 14 x 20 in. (4/7/05, 7:09 a.m.}
Wall, Coney Island
oil stick and oil pastels on handmade paper, 34 x 24 in. (4/15/17, 9:35 a.m.)
Sideshow, Coney Island
crayon and colored pencils, 19 x 25 in. (4/15/17, 4:38 p.m.)
NYC, Moon at Daytime
soft pastels and polychrome crayons on handmade paper, 14 x 20 in. (5/27/18, 4:19 p.m.)
Lobby, Brooklyn
mixed media with crayon, 18 ½ x 25 in. (5/23/18, 11:23 a.m.)
Hudson Line to the City
gouache, gesso, and graphite on Fabriano paper, 19 x 24 in. (1/12/11, 4:23 p.m.)
Intersection, Queens
oil pastels and oil stick on paper, 22 x 30 in. (11/17/19, 12:23 p.m.)
Coming in for a Landing at JFK
oil on canvas, 16 x 20 in. (11/16/19, 4:12 p.m.)
Midtown Skyline from the Astoria Ferry
pastels on handmade paper, 12 x 33 in. (11/20/19, 12:40 p.m.)
Roosevelt Island from Astoria Ferry Dock at Hallet’s Cove, Queens
oil pastels, 18 x 24 in. (11/20/19, 11:54 a.m.) private collection
Yellow Cab Refraction from a 5th Avenue Window
oil pastels on canvas, 28 x 21 in. (5/3/21, 11:43 a.m.)
Henry Hudson Bridge at Spuyten Duyvil, Bronx
oil on canvas, 22 x 30 in. (7/14/13 9:52 p.m.)
View from the Museum of Modern Art
acrylics on canvas, 18 x 25 in.
Liberty Under Construction
oil on burlap, 26 x 14 in. (from a photograph of Lady Liberty with scaffolding from the studio of Bartholdi)
collaborative
Grand Central Station, 8:11 a.m.
mixed-media with acrylics on paper mounted birch, 22 x 39 in. (2011)
Vestibule, Grand Central Station
acrylics on paper on wood panel, 42 x 27 in. (2018)
St. Patrick’s Day Parade from the Steps of the Metropolitan Museum
mixed-media with water based oils on paper, 11 x 25 in. (2002)
4th of July Fireworks over Manhattan
mixed media with acrylics on linen on board, 15 x 43 in.
Central Park I
mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.
Central Park II
mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in., private collection
Central Park III
mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in., private collection
Central Park IV
mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.
Central Park V
mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.
Central Park VI
mixed media with acrylics on rice paper, 39 x 22 in.
abstracts-by-Yonnah
View from the Window I (1982)
watercolor, 20 x 16 matted
View from the Window I (2019)
acrylics on canvas on panel, 34 x 27 in.
View from the Window II I(1982)
watercolor, 20 x 16 matted
View from the Window II (2019)
acrylics on canvas, 34 x 27 in.
View from the Window III (1982)
watercolor, 20 x 16 matted
View from the Window III (2019)
acrylics on canvas on panel, 30 x 22 in.
View from the Window IV (1982)
watercolor, 20 x 16 matted
View from the Window IV (2019)
acrylics on canvas on panel, 36 x 24 in.
View from the Window V (1982)
watercolor, 16 x 20 matted
View from the Window V (2019)
acrylics on canvas on panel, 24 x 36 in.
Sculpture
World Trade Center
ceramic sculpture with fired in laser decals of brand mascots, 14 x 17 x 13 in. by Chaim
Two Skyscraper Steles
ceramic sculptures, 24 in. and 18 in. high by Chaim
Skyscrapers
raku fired clay by Yonnah
Lady Liberty
raku fired clay
Assemblage and Installations
My grandmother, whom I loved, was neurotic about dirt, and for my first five years we lived nextdoor. So it is appropriate that I began my scupture career in such a way as to keep my hands clean. I rolled out the dryest, whitest porcelain on a slab roller and tore off pieces, to which I affixed laser slide decals to be fired in permanently. It was only after several years that I took the plunge and mixed a pail of wet, sludge clay with sawdust, getting it up to my elbows. This cured me to work with clay as clay.
1 minute video of a kinetic sculpture with a soundtrack from a televised fashion show broadcast in New York City.
grandmother
My Grandmother’s Matchbook Collection
porcelain tiles with fired in laser decals
Chateau Madrid
oil on linen, 40 x 28 in.
A Royal Welcome
mixed media with oil and sandpaper on canvas board, 20 x 16 in.
Ohio Blue Tip
watercolor, 20 x 16 in.
Kaddish
oil on glass in antique frame
Starlite Roof
oil on canvas board
Treat Yourself to the Very Best
mixed media with encaustics and glass on wood
american-icons
Americana
mixed media with fired in laser decals and found objects in 7-UP crate
Stars and Stripes
mixed media in soda crate (collection of City of Seattle)
Hello Strongman (antique carnival object found in the executive suite of J.P. Morgan)
oil on burlap, 26 x 18 in.
Brown Liberty
raku fired ceramics
Liberty Under Construction
oil on burlap
On the Road – 1975
ceramic tiles in soda crate (private collection)
American Skull
encaustics on bone
Duende and Transfiguration
Encaustics on Jawbones, Upper: Chaim, Lower: Yonnah
World Trade Center
ceramic sculpture with fired in laser decals of brand mascots, 14 x 17 x 13 in.
The End of the American Frontier
porcelain tiles with fired in laser decals, 12 x 23 x 2 in.
Self Reliance
assemblage with porcelain tiles and fired in laser decals with antique wrench, 15 x 15 x 3 in.
Totem Bowl
ceramic plate with fired in laser decal
Crazy Quilt
irregular ceramic tiles mounted on wood, 20 x 20 in.
I Want You
watercolors on canvas, 20 x 16, by Bezalel-Levy
chinese-chest
Scene from my Father’s Chinese Chest
gouache on handmade paper, 20 x 30 (2023)
Hanging Tiles and Beads
ceramics, driftwood
Dragon
driftwood, handmade beads and tiles, 2 ft. x 6 ft. (2023)
Mounted Tile
high fired ceramics, 16 x 16 in.
chinese-bowl
Chinese Bowl
high fired ceramics, 12 x 12 x 3
Chines Dish
high fired ceramics, 7 x 7 x 2 in. (2024)
Brown Stele with Chinese Impressions
high fired ceramics, 17 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (2023)
White Stele
high fired ceramics, 16 x 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 in. (2024)
Public-Works
Roadwork-Monoprint
Roadwork-Monoprint-II
Roadwork I
printers relief ink and tar on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in.
Roadwork II
printers relief ink and tar on handmade paper, 30 x 20 in.
Thames Water
Monotype (utility covers, Basing, England) 120 x 12 in. (2013)
Sumner-Iron-Works-Platter-I
Sumner Platter II
saggar fired clay, 18 1/2 x 18 1/2 x 3 in.
Sumner-Painting
Sumner Iron Works #2
mixed media with oil pastels on handmade paper, 20 x 20 in.
Water & Sewer
gas fired ceramics, 28 x 21 x 3 in. (the set)
Sea Form
raku fired clay (private collection)
Tractor Seat
high fired ceramics
Storm
saggar fired tiles mounted on handmade cedar box, 27 x 21 x 5 in.
Back to School
raku fired clay (Bellingham Herald, August, 1949) private collection
caveware
Caveware Platter #1
Caveware Platter #2
Caveware-Platter-#4
Old-Growth-Altar
Creation-II
Creation-I
Old Growth Tree Rings
ceramic tiles in a cedar box
Hanging Petroglyphs
pit fired ceramic tiles
Hanging-Petroglyphs-detail
The Invention of the Wheel I
ceramics, wood, twine, and steel
The Invention of the Wheel II
ceramics, wood, and twine
Necklaces
Stelae
Horned Stele
high fired ceramics, 17 x 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 in.
Antler Vase
high fired ceramics & antlers, 22 x 11 x 6 in.
Incense Bowl
pit fired ceramics, 7 x 6 x 6 approx.
Lidded Jar
pit fired ceramics, 5 x 6 x 6 in.
Religion
What me Worry Beads (The World’s Great Religions)
Religionone
Impressions of early Renaissance paintings
Shaker Triptych
Hands to Work, Hearts to God (Shaker epigram)
First there is a Mountain
zen koan (private collection)
Crowns
Crown of thorns, crown of heaven, crown of Buddah’s head
Decade
Twelve impressions of Mary
other-stuff
Catwalk
Classical-Motifs
Cloud-of-Witnesses
Elements of Classical Culture
press molded clay in a shadowbox
Mini Masks
saggar fired clay posted in a soda crate
To a Hammer Every Problem is a Nail
mixed media with clay, iron stake, and fruit boxes
Winter Forest
terracotta clay with fired in laser decals, steel, and wood
Imaage-Shadow-and-Artifact
Time and Tide
mixed media
The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
raku fired ceramics with fired in laser decals
Will the Circle be Unbroken
private collection
Shipworm
Pixilated Pine
Pit fired tiles in a fruit pickers box, 25 x 17 x 3 in.
Hanging-Doodads
The Bible is not for Children (Sculpture & Paintings)
In 2020, we were staying in our second home in Israel, when, due to the pandemic, we could not return to America for 15 months. However, we made good use of our time. I joined a ceramics workshop in the neighborhood and was inspired to begin a series of small sculptures of Biblical characters and scenes each accompanied by a poem depicting some of the difficult parts of the Hebrew Bible. The project became a book, “The Bible is not for Children.”
The Firmament
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. – Genesis 1:3
Adam and Eve
…and they knew not that they were naked – Genesis 3:7
The Dove
He sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground . – Genesis 8:8
The Tower of Babel
Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven – Genesis 11:4
Abraham and Sarah
Now Sarah and Abraham were old – Genesis 18:11
The Ram Caught in the Thicket
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns – Genesis 22:13
Lot’s Wife
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. – Genesis 19:26
Lot’s-Wife-Sketch
Jacob’s Ladder
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven, and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. – Genesis 28:12
Jacob Wrestles with the Angel
And he said, let me go, for the day breaketh. – Genesis 32:26
Pharoah’s Cup
Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand. – Genesis 40:11
The Seven Lean Cows
And the lean and the ill favoured kine did eat up the first seven fat kine: – Genesis 41:20
The Divining Cup
Is not this in which my lord drinketh, and whereby indeed he divineth? – Genesis 44:5
Passover
And when I see the blood, I will pass over you – Exodus 12:13
The Brazen Serpent
If a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived – Numbers 21:9
Balaam and his Ass
What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times? – Numbers 22:28
Deborah the Prophetess
… until that I, Deborah arose, a mother in Israel – Judges 5:7
Jephtha’s Daughter
Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering. – Judges 11:31
Samson
And Samson took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the house stood – Judges 16:29
Hannah and Samuel
So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. – I Samuel 1:23
David and the Head of Goliath
David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head. – I Samuel 17:51
The Ghost of Samuel
Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? – I Samuel 28:15
Samuel-Risen-from-the-Dead-
The Queen of Sheba
And she gave the king an hundred and twenty talents of gold. – I Kings 10:10
Jezabel
Arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I:will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite. – I Kings 21 :7
Elijah and Elisha
Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it, and he cried, my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof. – II Kings 2:11-12
She Bear
And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children. – II Kings 2:24
Jehu
And he arose, and went into the house; and he poured the oil on his head – II Kings 9:6
Isaiah
The vision of Isaiah – Isaiah 1:1
Jeremiah
Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears – Lamentations 9:1
Hosea
Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms – Hosea 1:2
Jonah
Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly. – Jonah 2:1
Ruth
And she went, and came, and gleaned in the field after the reapers: and her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging unto Boaz. – Ruth 2:3
By the Rivers of Babylon
We hung our harps upon the willows – Psalm 137:2
Job
Naked I came out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall return thither. – Job 1:21
Song of Songs
I am black, but comely, ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. – Song of Songs 1:5
The Preacher
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. – Ecclesiastes 1:2
Kohellet-(The-Preacher)
There is nothing better for a man, than that he should eat and drink, and that he should make his soul enjoy good in his labour… – Ecclesiastes 2:24
Life Masks
These are all life-masks. The wet clay pressed against my own face and then takes on a life of its own. Here is a sampling of the many masks I continue to make whenever the mood strikes.
1
Striped Mask
2
Gorilla
3
Friendly Rodent
8
Pinocchio
4
Ancient Mask
5
Lion
6
Rhino
7
The Witness
9
Fido Dido
10
King
11
Mud Man
12
Bird
13
Moon Face
14
Here Comes the Sun
15
Raptor
16
Porcelain Mask
18
The Scream
19
Oedipus
20
Philistine Warrior
17
Deer
21
Sentient Tree
22
Ram
23
The Muse is Fleeting
24
Wooly Bully
25
Horse
26
Face of Summer
27
29
Rabbit
30
Comedy and Tragedy
28
Leonine Mask
31
Cheshire Cat
32
Female Visage
33
Blind Homer
34
Grizzly Bear
35
Masked Avenger (Masked Mask)
36
Some Kind of Bird
37
Small Mammal Mask
38
Toothless Lion
39
Ape Mask
40
Crown of Thorns
MUSIC
My musical background began in the bathtub, when I was a baby. My mother would sing to me, "The headbone's connected to the neckbone..." She had a collection of 78 rpm records of folk music, mostly from the 40's, when she had hung out with some of the artists. I was also steeped in classical music from the radio, as well as every other kind; you name it. As a teenager, I hung out in Greenwich Village, where I learned to pick guitar and listen to jazz. Yet, it wan't until I was middle-aged that I began to write my own songs. I spent 10 years in a string band and then assembled my own groups to record and perform. I have written about 50 songs to date.
