The Full Story
Art in my house
Here are pictures of artwork in my house, annotated. Enjoy!
Dancing Lady
This metal sculpture of a dancing lady was presented to me as thanks for my support of New York Dance and Arts Innovations (nydai.org). I connected with this Polish nonprofit through the Kosciusko Foundation, where I was a disgruntedl Board member. NYDAI's founder, Marian Zak, was inspiring. He brought Slavic artists to New York and gave them opportunities. We had many exciting adventures together! Eventually, I left the organization (even though I am still listed on the website) because the quality could not be maintained. So sad. So Polish.
Glacier joy
This is one of those lucky photographs, taken by my cell phone while sitting on the shore of Lake MacDonald, watching Jessica paddleboard with a background of Glacier Park mountains. We, and her boys, had taken the day off and enjoyed it thoroughly.
Joanne Mazzoleni
This chalk portrait of me about the age of 4 was done by my godmother, Joanne Mazzoleni. A longtime close friend of my mother's, Joanne came from the wealthy Ivey (plumbing) family of Toronto. She was very tall, very correct, and a terror (I watched what I said very carefully, for she would swoop down like a Valkyrie at the slightest misstep). She was also the most wonderful individual I have ever known: creative, energetic, generous, refined, and more. She welcomed me into her home every weekend that I spent in boarding school in Toronto. She visited me at Glen Bernard Camp in Canada when no one else reached out. She was also an amazing artist, actress, author, and aspiring singer. I miss her terribly.
By the way, I hated that stupid monkey. It replaced something I adored that my mother threw away and had nasty, abrasive fur.
Joanne also painted my portrait while I was visiting her in southern France as a teenager. That portrait is in the Woodbury house.
Another portrait of me, this time in my twenties, was done by Tamara Hubert but has unfortunately been lost.
Love and Mexico
The top photo was taken in Princeton when the girls were quite young. I was heavily into photography, and they were heavily into posing. Needless to say, they fought with each other as often as they posed!
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The bottom part of this photo is of a mirror I purchased in Mexico while visiting San Miguel de Allende with Jessica and her boys. I just loved the ceramic tiles.
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Phoebe
This little girl, pictured here on the shores of Whitefish Lake, is a wealth of talents. Like her father, she is extremely photogrenic. She is also a natural photographer and cook. Who knows what more will emerge with time?
Jessica
This photograph of Jessica was also taken on the shores of Whitefish Lake and is one of those lucky, rare events, for she is difficult to capture. This one shows how beautiful she really is.
Snagging
Snagging is one of those truly bizarre customs whereby dying fish are caught as a sport and a source of food. The term "snagging" comes from the fact that the fish are so depleted that they can no longer avoid capture, even by virtue of a hook hanging limply in the water. I obviously can be fun.
First Prize
My paternal grandmother (Barbara Alferieff) told me that she took this photo and that it won first prize. So strange to think that she might have had a talent for photography, especially given the incredible technological challenges of her time!
Black and White
Sometime while living on Leigh Avenue in Princeton, I joined a class at Mercer County Community College that taught me how to take and develop black and white photographs. This photo of Win was taken in our living room and I love it in part because she was wearing one of my favorite hats.
Krakow, Poland
As a member of the Board of Directors of the Kosciusko Foundation in New York, I had numerous opportunities to travel to Poland, and some of those trips coincided with my photography class at Mercer County Community College. This photo captured my attention because of the obvious joy of the girls in feeding the pigeons in the central square of Krakow.
Warsaw, old and new
Again a black and white photo for my photography class at Mercer County Community College, this photo was taken in Warsaw, Poland, and shows the discrepancy between the old and the new.
A path in the woods
Only a block or two from my home on Leigh Avenue in Princeton was a heavily wooded forest filled with wildlife. I would almost daily take a moment to wander along one of its paths, feeling a tremendous relief and freedom in the beauty of this environment. I have never forgotten these moments of freedom.
Sunflower
This is one of the rare photographs by Grace Feldman. For the most part, her talen lay in line drawings. I can't say I'm particularly attracted to this image. However, I know it meant a lot to her.
This exquisite woman
She isn't photographic, and she knows it, but she is absolutely exquisite. Folks stop her in the street to comment on her beauty, and it is obvious that what we're seeing has Greek or Roman origins. The strong, straight nose, the straight mouth, the ice-blue eyes, the bold chin and beautifully balanced features - that combined with her lithe body - were she to live in New Jersey 100 years ago, I'm sure she would be one of the Belles of Brooklyn.
A Polish Thank You
One year (I don't remember which one), I was approached by a Pole with a mission. Apparently, a secondary school in Warsaw needed funding for its physics program. Ever the sucker, I raised $5,000 through the Kosciousko Foundation and, about a year later, received this exquisite painting in gratitude. Through back channels, I was told that this was the work of a young student. No name, of course. If true, I find it exquisite.
Alaska
Sometime after I moved to Connecticut to join my father's firm, he invited me to join him and his wife for a trip to Alaska. It was unbelievable! A Lindblad boat (small), we explored glaciers, virgin forests (straight from Star Wars), whales, and so much more. During one of our shore visits, I found this painting, which to me described just how I felt at the time.
A girl
I love street art - you know, the stuff that is being offered by starving artists who haven't yet made it into a gallery and probably never will. This particular portrait I discovered in Wisconsin while strolling through a Wisconsin town with Julie (at that time) Sorensen. It has remained one of my favorites ever since.
Asleep
When my children were young, I encouraged them to sleep whenever and wherever they were tired. Sometime during Thanksgiving in I think1984, Jessica fell asleep on the floor of the living room with her beloved doll and blanket. Linda Severt (?), a local artist, had joined me and Bill for Thanksgiving dinner and captured Jessica in this chalk portrait that I still love.
?
On January 18, 1981, Jessica Parker was born via Cesarean section. She and I stayed in St. Luke's/Roosevelt Hospital in New York City for several days. During time, Bill and Win "batched" it in our apartment at 350 West 85th Street. This was the first time Win had spent any time away from me and alone with her dad. I wonder what was going through her mind.
Gdansk
Again, a piece of street art. This time, I was traveling by boat (the Minerva) through the North Sea, and we stopped in this Polish seaport for a stroll. I took a photo of the artist with his city background but have unfortunately lost it. At any rate, his watercolor of the seascape is exquisitely exact. What a treasure!
4 pieces
On the upper left, my father's father (Tadeusz Sendzimir) negotiating a contract with the Japanese in October 1970. To the top right, Jessica in the bamboo on Southern Way, Princeton. Lower left, me, my daughers, and my mother in my home in Waterury. Lower right, my father's parents surrounding his mother's mother - this in Harbin, China, after the 1917 Russian Revolution.
A hand
Win attended the Princeton Waldorf School when she was 12 or so. During that time, she was introduced to some incredibly wonderful artistic methods, one of which is shown here. I was so impressed by the beauty of this drawing that I had it framed. And kept.
By the way, the drawing above this one is of Tallin, Estonia, and again a piece of street art.
A face
Jessica attended the Putney School in Vermont when she was an adolescent. During that time, she profited from Putney's emphasis on the arts. One of many outcomes was this incredible face that I framed myself in a way taht I hoped reflected the portrait's spirit.
Dziadzio
Sometime during my early adolescence, my grandfather ("Dziadzio," in Polish) gave me a camera. It was perhaps 1963? 1964? This was before the internet. It was also before anything automatic in a camera. Focus was manual. There was an external light meter, whose readout had to be fed into the f-stop. Everything was guesswork.
One weekend, during one of those perfectly dreadful Sunday lunches, I brought my camera to Dziadzio's house and photographed him. The result was a picture that went worldwide. Unfortunately, I sent the negative to this wife, and it was lost.
First flight
I believe it was during my junior year at the University of Pennsylvania that I felt compelled to learn to fly. This story is detailed in My Story. Here, however, is the evidence, as certified by Felicia Gonzalez, the only female flight instructor for the only female flight student. :)
What a mistake
While living in Princeton, I befriended an incredibly talented artist who lived in Lambertville. Many years later, after my move to Montana, I followed her progress and eventually asked her to paint a Russian icon in honor of Saint Michael (my father). A year or so later, she brought the finished portrait to Montana and charged me an exorbitant amount for something I found truly disappointing. Sometimes in life we make mistakes.
Barbara
My father's mother, Barbara Alferieff, was Russian Orthodox and gave generously to the church but otherwise tended to follow her own way. Nevertheless, at some point, and I believe it was during my teenage years, she gave me a tiny portrait of Saint Barbara, and I kept it. It should be noted that my relationship with organized religion is as oil and water. It just doesn't work for me.
Love!
Yes, it's out of focus. Yes, it's blurry. But that's its magic. This is a photo of the exquisitely wonderful relationship between mother (Jessica) and child (Avery) that existed when Avery was an infant. I just love this photo.
Win's early years
So many wonderful moments! Upper left: Win and her best friend Fleur singing at the top of their lungs on the front steps of our home on Southern Way. (Fleur loved to spend the night at our house.) Upper right: infant Win's portrait for our Christmas card (1979). Lower left: Win mastering her horse. Win at the Waldorf School (that hair!). Lower right: Win graduating from Princeton's Montessori School.
Early pix
Upper left: As the cofounder of the Woman's Newspaper of Princeton, I was invited to give a speech somewhere sometimes. I don't remember much of this. Upper right: My mother heads the line whose members will remain unidentified. This was taken in Minden, Ontario. Middle, left: Win's school picture, grade 3? Lower left: Jessica at some point. Lower right: me as a baby.
Crow
I was peeing in the bathroon of a restaurant in Fernie, Canada, when I saw the crow on the wall. I was captivated. $25 Canadian. And I like it far more than works of art for which I paid thousands.
Love
Jessica attended the Putney School in Vermont for high school. Putney is a liberal, arts-oriented, high-class boarding school. Many of its graduates go on to claim a place in the world for themselves. For Jess, this was a time of discovery that was often difficult. But she made many close friends, one of them being Eli Robinson, who I maintain to this day would have made a formidable U.S. president.
Poland in black and white
While in Poland as a member of the Board of Directors of the Kosciusko Foundation, I took advantage of the location to take pictures for my B&W photography class at Mercer Coumty Community College. This one is of the tome of the unknown soldier, I believe in Warsaw. The other two, to the right, are also of Poland.
Ecuador?
I wish I could remember exactly where I bought this piece, and that I ever spent time really looking at it. Was it during the Road Scholar trip I took to Central America? How about the trip with my father to the Galapagos? Or maybe it was one of several trips to Mexico. At any rate, the image that comes to mind during one of these travels is of a very basic market in the hills. The markets were run by women. The men stayed home. Can you imagine?! Women were in charge of commerce!
Madrid
Shortly after Jessica graduated from Putney, I arranged for her to spend a couple of months in Madrid to master her familiarity with Spanish. It would give her a huge career asset. However, the trip conflicted with her emotional attachment to her future husband, and my good intention became a disaster. Nevertheless, during the very short time we spent in Madrid, we visited a factory where artisans were producing carbonised steel bowls inlaid with very fine gold and silver filament. I continue to be overwhelmed by the delicacy and detail of these pieces.
Wooden inlays
Who would have thought that one day, in the parking lot of the Eureka grocery store, a couple of gay guys from Libby would be hawking their art? Unbelievable not just for the fact but because what they were selling was truly beautiful. For starts, I love wood, and these inlaid pieces were exquisite.
