IT WAS A LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON, when I first met Susan Weinberg — artist, teacher and weekend philosopher. We sat on the patio of her art studio across from the merry-go-round and beneath the pier,chatting while the human circus passed by. Amazingly, her “Infinity Studio” is between a pizza parlor and a psychic reader! I could almost visualize the 1930s when celebrities like Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Mae West, and my favorite, W.C. Fields, made this their hangout.
A teacher at Emeritus College, Susan believes artistic expression is essential for well-being and that it even can extend life. She should know, she’s been creating art for nearly all of her 73 years. (73 going on 43!) She is the last remaining artist on the boardwalk, but has no intention of leaving, or slowing down for that matter.
Her formal art education began at the age of 11, when Susan and her sister Karen were honor students at the Chicago Art Institute. She still remembers riding the open-air, double-decker, red bus down Michigan Avenue in 1945. Their father was a physician, a violinist and a sculptor, and their mother was a dancer. The Great Depression a recent memory, her father decided Susan should be practical and get a teaching credential. His decision would be both positive and negative — positive because, without her degree, she never would have become a teacher; negative in that it kept her from her art for the next 20 years.
Susan got her college degree, but even for a magna cum laude graduate, jobs were scarce. She was hired by the Chicago Gas Company. To promote cooking with gas, in the showroom window she baked pies, cakes and bread. (The Rachael Ray of her day?) One positive was she could eat what she cooked; one negative was she gained 20 pounds.
At 22, Susan married and moved to California.A few years later,with three children and a home in the Valley, they were living the American dream... almost. To make a living, her husband — a classical musician — had to forsake his music, Susan her art. Susan feels that’s why she got ill with severe headaches. So she finally enrolled at Otis Art Institute and earned a Masters Degree in sculpture and painting. A little nervous, she opened a studio in Venice and entered a whole new world.
Venice was the Land of Oz — hippies, music, freedom and politics. (Not to mention nude beaches, marijuana and belly dancers.) “In Venice, people got lost or they found themselves,” Susan says. “Fortunately, I did the latter.”
Then, she discovered a larger studio in Santa Monica,which even had a garden.She moved in and began to paint watercolor scenes of beach life, which are now collector’s items. (Five being owned by the filmmaker George Lucas.) Soon, the art business took off. Susan’s work was in design showrooms in 10 cities across the country.“I went from a nobody to a star.” She sold her work to banks, hotels, corporations, even the Smithsonian. But great success often has a downside. (Or so I’m told.) For Susan, the downside was becoming more of a businesswoman than an artist. She promptly returned to art and teaching.
To Susan, art is emotional and physical, and even provides exercise, along with biking, skating and gardening. Speaking of gardening, she happened to read my column about Robert, the homeless landscaper with the green thumb and realized she knew him. She paid him a visit, and now Robert’s helping her create an organic garden, a modern day Victory garden. (I’m hoping for 10 percent of the tomato crop as a finder’s fee.) In 2005, Susan began teaching a “plein aire” (outdoor) watercolor class through Santa Monica’s Emeritus College program. To promote healthy aging, Emeritus offers free classes to seniors, including art, writing, music, exercise and yoga. Susan’s students come from many walks of life — physicians, engineers and teachers. Some have been painting together for 15 years.
“With their positive attitude, it’s they who inspire me.”
For “subjects,” Susan often takes her students to hotels and buildings along the boardwalk, some slated for demolition and some are landmarks. As shown in the photo, they trekked to Robert’s garden. It’s a Master Class, but beginners are welcome, as Susan believes everyone should express themselves artistically. (She hasn’t seen my drawings yet.) As sunset was turning to dusk, Susan talked about “art extending life,” noting that Matisse, Degas, O’Keefe and Monet did their best work in their 80s and 90s.“I hope to eat the food I grow, teach and paint for the next 25,” she says enthusiastically. “Like Siddartha, I have tried many ways of life, and chosen a healthy path taught to me by my mentors and students.”
SUSAN WEINBERG’s website is susanweinberg.com. Emeritus College’s class schedule can be found at www.Smc.Edu/emeritus. JACK NEWORTH
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 20, 2007. Read the original PDF.