Could it be that Racism is still burning hot in Piedmont, Oakland??

Yesterday before picking up my paintings from the Art On The Balcony Gallery in Piedmont, Oakland, California, we went for lunch at a tiny restaurant next door to the gallery. It's called Cafe Simone. The restaurant is reached by going up a wooden stairs to a 2nd floor open balcony with businesses on three sides. We went up the stairs single file - myself first, followed by my husband, Vladimir and taking up the rear, being the slowest of us three is my friend, Cynthia Pughsley, who's walking with a cane having had a recent knee surgery. As I went through the door, the woman behind the kitchen counter who turned out to be the owner, Simone, asked how many were in my party. She could see Vladimir and Cynthia (who happens to be black) outside through the glass window and door. When I said "3", she rolled her eyes. So I asked if that was okay since she rolled her eyes. She said "I'm not ready" and then added "I'm always not ready" but pointed us to a table in the corner. There were I think 3 or 4 other diners in the restaurant when we come in and as we were sitting a couple came in who from the warm greetings they got from Simone appear to be friends with her. She certainly acted that she was very "ready" for them. They were seated right next to us, it's a petite restaurant with 5 or 6 tiny tables with a shack like appearance inside. As Simone was taking Cynthia's order from a handwritten menu where some of the words were difficult to read, Simone was curt, short and condescending. Cynthia, a recent retiree from the San Francisco Superior Court, was once one of the highest rated women scrabble players in the country and therefore knows her words well and uses them fearlessly on the scrabble board as well as with people, said to her something like "I do not appreciate you're telling me....or your attitude....you should apologize....". To which the guy at the next table (Simone's friend) turned to Cynthia and said something like..."she's saying.....you don't understand...." (in a confrontational manner). Cynthia standing her ground answered him back. This lead to an exchange of words that lead to a shouting match. The guy then stood up to his full height, a burly white mound of flesh who was getting encouragement from his equally burly female white companion, took hold of the straps of his black bag like he was going to use it. In the meantime, Vladimir and I were telling him "you stay out of this, this is none of your business" which he ignores and I then stood up frantically saying "let's get out of here" because it was clear we were no match to this couple: Cynthia, a big woman but with a bad knee and cane, Vladimir, thin with little strength in his 6'2" frame confounded by a bad knee and foot and much less moi, 5'2" thinner with zero strength resting on 2 bad knees. Once we were out the door, the burly female companion came to the door and slammed the door on us. She said something like "good riddance" without the "good" in it. Barbara Petrie, owner of the gallery, was outside attracted by the loud voices and told us that Simone behaves that way "she's French" she says. As if that explains it. Well, I've been to France many many years ago and I only have fond memories of the place and its people and any country that can produce Victor Hugo, Voltaire, Jules Verne and gifts the United States the Statue of Liberty would always be dear to my heart. There is a Simone in every country and in every nook and cranny of the world but a burly white man who would behave threateningly to a senior black woman on a cane was something I did not expect to see so shamelessly and arrogantly displayed in Oakland, California. Fearless Cynthia later declared that she was prepared to use her cane on him if he were to attack her with his bag which he was menacingly holding in his hand. Later, Vladimir clapped his hands and said "Bravo" to her for standing her ground and not backing down from a big white man and meeting him word for word, decibel by decibel. In this match between a big younger white man -vs- an older black woman, the black woman won by a unanimous decision from Vladimir and myself, of course:):):):). But you know how things sort of work out in a convoluted way? From the moment she rolled her eyes, I wanted to turn back around towards the door, but I didn't want to insult Simone and the moment we were seated and felt how hot the place was with it's low ceilings, I wanted to leave..and so we left but not without a lot of drama:):):):). 

We decided to go then to a Thai restaurant close by called Lotus Thai Cuisine. What a difference a Thai restaurant makes. At Cafe Simone we were greeted with rolling eyes, here we were greeted with sparkling smiling eyes that says "welcome". The service was with a smile and when Cynthia's order arrived and it was not what she expected, they gladly replaced it with another to her liking.

Looking back, this whole episode got me thinking "could this be still a shade of racism? Did she roll her eyes when she found out that a black woman was in my party? Did she speak to Cynthia that way because she was black? Did the white man jumped in quickly to side with Simone because of the color of Cynthia's skin? Would they have both talked in that manner if it was a white woman? How puzzling human beings are and in a sense, in this area of existence, not as evolved as animals are. For instance, dogs give their unconditional love no matter the color of the skin of their master. They do not love or hate each other based on each other's color. Which brings me to the most amazing dog of all time. See blog below on Kabang.


Kabang, the most Heroic, Miraculous Dog of all time.

I want to paint Kabang. Because he is just the most remarkable dog of all time (I'm hang up on "of all time":):):):).  Who says that only cats have 9 lives? Take Kabang, as a tiny new born puppy she was saved from certain death when a man found her whimpering in a swamp in Zamboanga, Philippines as he was gathering kangkong (a vegetable that grows on water). He took her home intending to fatten her up and then have her for dinner (there are still people in Asia and perhaps other parts in the world that still do that stomach-churning puke-inducing thing). But then the man's little daughter and niece fell in love with the puppy they named Kabang (Visayan for "spotted", Kabang having black patches on her white body) and became inseparable. So Kabang escaped a certain death served by fire to be served on a plate. First, she escaped death by water and now death by fire. Then one day as the daughter and niece were crossing the street directly in the path of a speeding motorcycle, Kabang came running from nowhere, threw herself at the motorcycle, tumbling the motorcycle with the driver sustaining minor injuries, the 2 girls saved from imminent death. The spoke of the motorcycle wheels seared off Kabang's upper jaw or snout. After this incredible heroic deed where Kabang for all intents and purposes gave her life to save her two friends, Kabang ran off and disappeared. They looked and looked for her but could not find her, and they surrendered to the thought that she went off to die. But then lo and behold! miracle of miracles, Kabang one day showed up at her master's door very much alive, minus a snout but alive! Kabang yet escaped certain death for the 3rd time, this time from the wheels of a motorcycle. News of Kabang circulated worldwide resulting to a drive to bring Kabang to the States, to UC Davis (the foremost veterinary teaching hospital in the country), California to reconstruct her face. She arrived in California but was found to have a cancerous tumor in her body. She was treated for that and for the 4th time escaped yet another possible death. She came home to the Philippines, still without a full face but very well and alive and to a heroes parade in her hometown. What feats will she do next? The saga of Kabang continues.......

The following is a short contribution to a book by Marsha Cheung Golangco entitled THE POWER OF FENG SHUI FOR GREEN LIVING. The book is available at her website www.windwater888.com

Feng Shui and Art

By Judy Romanenkov, Artist

I try to paint images and sceneries that evoke good feelings: paintings that are calming, inspiring, motivating that exude peace, love and respect for the earth and life in all the varied forms that it supports. What we have around us affects our mood and our attitude and therefore directly or indirectly influences the way we live.  A painting on the wall, though we may not pay much attention to it, stays in our subconscious and becomes part of the collective stimulus that make us happy, sad, angry, energized, etc.  For instance, a customer in a bank complained to the management that a painting on the wall reminded her of the holocaust.  The management removed the painting.  A woman undergoing chemotherapy treatment saw my painting "Dappled Path" that inspired her and strengthened her resolved to push on. A busy working mother has a panoramic view of trees and meadows from her backyard that gives her happy vibes, so she commissioned a painting of it for her living room.  The result is a painting titled "Stern Grove".  These are a few examples of how pictures on our walls affect our day-to-day living whether we are aware of it or not.

The main characters in my paintings are the colors, not so much the lines, but the play of light and shadow, of strength and softness expressed through colors.  Colors are powerful.  They can enliven us or depress us.  All colors play an important role in any theme whether it is portrait, landscape, still-life or abstract.  Colors can energize or cause lethargy.  It's the combination of colors and the intensity, luminosity and gradation of colors used that can imbue a painting with positive energy.  I would venture that people, like me, are drawn to a painting first by the colors and then by the image.  There are exceptions, of course, especially if the painting is about a well- known subject.  However if you have several paintings of the same subject, people would be drawn to the one with their favorite colors.  And so I try to use a combination and gradation of different colors in my paintings that exude happiness, energy, purpose and serenity as well.

Green living is synonymous to beauty, harmony and positive energy.  I try to depict scenes that exemplify green living in my paintings such as “Green Greenfield” showing a farmer in the Philippines tilling his land with his trusty ox.  Only manpower is used, no fossil fuel destroys his environment; or "Green Roof Making" using only womanpower"; or " Earth Ways " an abstract painting honoring Earth Day; or "Peace Please" because war destroys people and the environment more than any other activity of man; or "Pelican Head" about a pelican that was rescued from an oil spill.  The painting was commissioned and auctioned at a Wild Rescue fundraiser. While these paintings depict green living, having any pictures on your wall that give you positive energy contribute one way or another to your Feng Shui environment, because such an environment enhances your awareness of the beauty around us and its fragility and therefore our responsibility in protecting it for future generations.

Each one of us contributes to the world by design or simply by the way we live.  Our contribution may be remembered or forgotten but it doesn't mean it bears no meaning, for our footprint leaves a lasting imprint on the collective totality of life on earth and its direction.  Art elevates life from the basic pursuit of food, clothing and shelter.  Life is the greatest gift of art and living it as art is the greatest contribution to life.  Art has many meanings and sometimes indefinable but it boils down to basically "Art is making beauty".  True and lasting beauty starts from within.  It guides us in creating beautiful relationships, beautiful characters, beautiful people, beautiful events and beautiful things.  That is legacy in its simplest and purest form.