Consider the odyssey of Judithe
Hernández. Known for murals she cre-
ated in Los Angeles during the 1960s
and ’70s, Hernández suspended her
artwork for decades to focus on mar-
riage, motherhood, and her career as
a university art instructor in Chicago,
where she resettled in 1984. But her
creative passion continued to simmer.
“I drew when I could, but that wasn’t
often,” she recalls. “I had all these ideas
stored away in file drawers—and in my
head. And I never let go of the dream
that someday I’d come back to it.”
At 62, with her marriage ending and
her only child poised to enter college,
Hernández is returning to L.A. to re-
sume her artistic career—this time as a
maker of symbol-rich pastel drawings.
Her recent studio works (“a beauti-
ful blend of Rivera and Rousseau,” said
one critic) make clear why Hernández
feels she can no longer shortchange her
talent. Curators at Chicago’s National
Museum of Mexican Art evidently
agree; Hernández will have a major
solo exhibit there in January 2011.
Hernández contrasts her frame of
mind as a younger artist with the more
mature—yet no less fierce—spirit she
brings to her work today. “Time and
experience allow you to distill those
feelings, and your skill, so you waste
less effort,” she says. “It’s the differ-
ence between a sauce you make in five
minutes and one that you reduce and
reduce and the flavor gets more intense
and deeper. You’re left with a smaller
amount, but the flavor is amazing.”
In 2000, Phillips was visiting a close
friend in New Mexico who happened
to be an artist. Aware that Phillips
had studied graphic design before
she went into marketing, the friend
bought her some paper and pastels,
and urged her to try some drawings.
Abruptly, the pictures tumbled
forth. The subject: the killer’s face—
one version after another in wild, furi-
ous, almost brutal renditions.
“I had been thinking about it a long
time,” Phillips reflects. “And it came
out with such energy—I probably had
30 pieces of art when I was done. I
was like, ‘Thank God that’s out on the
page and not inside me anymore!’”
Day after day
Build confidence
step-by-step
Discouragement comes
with the territory, especially early on. “Taking
small steps is key,” says
Stuart Kandell, founder of
arts center Stagebridge.
Seek out feedback
“It’s crucial to show
your work and get a real
critique,” says Bloomfield,
“not just ritual praise
from friends.”
“Fail better”
each day
“Rather than a sudden
breakthrough,” says the
University of Chicago’s
David Galenson, “achieve
innovation through
patient trial and error.”
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 88)
That afternoon her father called
again. “We’ve got a problem,” he told
Phillips. “Mom hasn’t been home
since yesterday.”
Two days after she went missing,
Lola Mae’s body was discovered in
a secluded wood near the Alabama
border. She and an employee in her
consignment shop had been abducted
and murdered in a botched robbery.
Their 22-year-old killer is now serving
back-to-back life sentences.
Traumatized, Phillips began a
decade-long slide whose casualties
included her job and her faith. She
got married again but divorced. She
turned to therapy and yoga in a bid to
salve the pain and quell the rage.
To Cultivate
Your Creativity
Want to nurture a dormant
talent—or discover a new one?
Follow tips from the experts
FOR ABSTRACT PAINTER Audrey Phillips,
54, creating art was a spontaneous
reaction to grief. One morning in 1989,
Phillips got a phone call at work from
her father in Panama Beach, Florida.
He was “just checking in,” he claimed.
But Phillips—then 33 years old and a
recently divorced marketing executive
at the Orlando Sentinel—sensed something was amiss; normally the voice
checking in was that of her mother,
Lola Mae.
Live what you love
“What piqued your curiosity
in the past?” asks Susan
Perlstein of the National
Center for Creative Aging.
“Did you enjoy playing piano
as a kid? Did you look at art
in a museum and fall in love
with the colors? Why not
explore that again now?”
Get the lead out
Regular aerobic workouts
can blunt anxiety, stress,
and depression—and spark
creativity. Mystery novelist
Eugenia Lovett West, 87,
begins each writing day
with a 20-minute walk.
Stretch your mind
“The brain feeds on novelty,”
says Bruce Frankel, author
of What Should I Do With the
Rest of My Life? “If you’re an
accountant, challenge yourself with abstract painting.
If you’re a word person, try
some mathematics.”
Look close to home
Your local community college or arts society is a good
place to find instruction and
encouragement. “You can
meet like-minded people
there and take a chance,”
says Artist’s Magazine editor
Maureen Bloomfield.
Go online for
inspiration
Visit aarp.org/creativity
to watch a video of a
drawing workshop based
on the AARP book
Expressive Drawing, read
what one longtime jour-
nalist discovered when he
went in search of the art-
ist within, and find other
resources to start you on
your own journey. —J.K.
