only a brief moment in their skateboarding activities.
136 W. Lime Avenue Monrovia, CA 91016
skateboard up and over a ramp or just trying out ollies, David and Sylvia and close by in Monrovia, ready to mend their bumps and bruises.
ENILDE GINGER INGELS-VAN HOOK
Artist- Photographer - Writer
JOURNAL ENTRY FROM
THE DIARY OF ENILDE VAN HOOK:
"The Adoption of Sasha"
March 18, 2007
My Dearest Friend,
We approached Burbank from the 405 Freeway and got off near the NBC studios. We saw a park, but no one seemed to be there so we went under the underpass and drove up and around on Buena Vista Street looking for a doggie park set up with doggie adoptions. At first, it all looked quiet and residential but then we started to see people on the street walking their dogs. We decided to follow them; which led us to the park directly across from the parking lot of NBC studios.
There we hit the dog-day jackpot. There were tents and booths and a DJ blaring music from loudspeakers set way up in the trees. There were Chihuahuas and Poodles and Labrador retrievers walking around pulling and dragging their new owners and new families (sometimes little Johnny or little Susie would get tangled in the lead and a little Jack Russell would finally sit with a smirk of a doggie smile from tooth to wagging tail.) There were short haired, short legged hotdog looking wiener dogs and robust looking Rottweillers and fancy faced terriers and droopy brown-eyed cocker spaniels and dogs that looked like wolves and Lassies that looked like they were ready to save lives and short Corgi’s that could hardly walk because they were so portly.
An arena was roped-off where there was a black, tan and white Border collie showing off her ability to catch Frisbees in mid-air and her trainer lifting his leg so she could jump through it like a hoop to catch the Frisbee on the other end. She would catch and jump and flip in the air and the audience would applaud and whoohoo and squeal in delight. There were families in this park with one, two, three or sometimes four and more children bundled together in the crowd like they were standing in line for a ride at Disneyland.
Beneath the element of show was an urgent need for each of these families to find and connect with their perfect matching adopted family member. On the way over we walked beside a woman who spoke aloud what Luke and I were thinking privately.
“I don’t know who is coming home with me today, but I hope I find him or her. I hope maybe he or she finds me. I want a happy healthy dog. I just want a companion. I don’t care whether it be a boy or a girl,” she said as we crossed the street at the green light with three more people headed for doggie adoption, “before I left the house,” she continued, “I said to God, ‘Lord’ just find me the right one, that’s all, just let it be the right one. My last one had cancer, bless her little soul, and I do have two other dogs at home, but we need one more. I just want a healthy one today.”
I was quiet. I kept walking and thinking. Luke was quiet. Then I opened up and agreed with her. I wanted to share with her that we wanted the same thing she did. We wanted a healthy companion to live and share a good life with us too. Luke whispered from behind me, “if it is meant to be, it will be.” We waved our parting goodbyes to this woman; we had barely met, and yet connected with on a level of human compassion for animals when suddenly we were engulfed in doggie-mania.
After all our anticipation, we were finally at the place where one of these 2000 beautiful dogs was going to come home with us. Now which one would it be? We wanted to be fair so we walked around several times to look at all of the dogs. There were so many. They all barked or whined or pleaded to come home with us. Some of them just wanted out of their cages and would go home with anyone that would let them out. Others just sat there and observed the circus of freaky looking people that walked by. Some dogs looked like they didn’t care. The sky was overcast, there was a slight breeze blowing and I was grateful for all those dogs that were at this adoption festival that it wasn’t a hot day. On the loudspeaker, there was an urgent announcement…’would the owner of an SUV license plate number… please return to your car. The dog inside is getting hot and we will break the window to your vehicle to get it out. We have authority from the police department. Will the owner of an SUV license plate number…’
At first, I saw ‘Bailey’ a small terrier-looking dog with a beige cream curly haired coat and he smiled at me, wagged his tail and then turned around at the bark of the dog behind him. Although I liked him, it was a boy and Luke wanted a girl so, we kept looking. Then one after another, the dogs I liked were boys. I wasn’t planning this; I just looked at the faces and wanted to see a reaction of connection. It was so hard to choose. I saw one brown-eyed droopy cocker spaniel that seemed perfect. He was a boy too. Boys are great, but they have to lift their legs to mark their territory and often mark the whole house. Ok, maybe a girl dog would mark it too in her own way.
Then, I saw the eyes of a dog that took my heart and shattered it with grief. It was the eyes and face and body of our boy Celbee…but it wasn’t. It was a girl and her brother in two separate cages. Brother and sister were up for adoption to a good home. An inspector would have to come to the house and approve the home so this one could not be our dog today either. But those eyes! Those Celbee eyes! The memories of his cancer returned. The hurt in his eyes when he realized he was going to be put down. He knew. He knew his time was up. He didn’t like the vet with the expensive oxford shoes. He tried to hide under the chair. But we made him get up on the table. The table where he was to receive the injection for an irreparable cancer that was about to take his brain and his doggie memories.
The piercing look on this female dog brought Celbee back to life and my heart broke for yet another time. I was disturbed. She didn’t recognize me. I had never seen this dog before. It was really the memory of our dog Celbee, yet her eyes penetrated mine and I had to look away for a second. I calculated. I would have to take home two dogs today. I could not. These two were strays that had managed to stay together on their journey when they were rescued from this shelter. And this animal rescue wanted brother and sister together. I agreed. I took a business card, but I knew I would not call. I left the booth with a heavy heart. I really missed my dog Celbee. He died in 2004. He didn’t make graduation. He barely made five years. Bella on the other hand made graduation but she was overtaken by the tumor in her shoulder in 2005. It was now two years later. It felt just like yesterday when I looked into the eyes of that beautiful female Queensland Healer in her cage, today.
I left that booth disheartened wondering if Luke and I would ever find a dog that was right for us. We didn’t want to replace our happy Bella and Celbee memories. We just wanted to make new ones. We wanted a wagging tail when we came home and the bark of joy when we said we were going for a walk. I looked over the bridge in the park and noticed there was an entire section of the park dedicated to cat adoptions. I turned away. Eggs, the neighbors’ cat was all the cat we needed. We have a cat. The cat doesn’t know about ownership and rights and legalese. It only knows his house is under construction and he prefers our house while his is getting worked on. But Egg’s family will be finishing their house this summer and it was time. Jill wants her cat back in her new house with her. I don’t blame her. If Eggs was my cat, I would want him back in my house too. Needless to say, it was time for us to get our own dog. It was time for us to let Bella and Celbee rest in peace. It was time for us to return to the land of the living or we were in danger of becoming ghosts ourselves.
And then, we went back to another isle of dogs we had been by before. I saw a face I recognized. It was a boy, said the animal control officer. But this time I didn’t care. The face looked at me and told me all I wanted to know. This face was the face that was coming home with me. I just had a feeling. Luke and I came inside the booth. We were asking questions, the officers were excited. “Oh, yes this one is available… Oh are you going to take her home she is really sweet…” “Did you say she? “So she, is not a boy…no…I said. She has nipples.” “Oh…no” said the animal control officer with her clipboard full of notes. “let me look up her file.. . Yup she’s a girl!”
We took her out of her cage to walk around the park and feel her out. She is a brown terrier the officer said. She pooped. She had diarrhea. But she didn’t seem upset with all the people. She gave us kisses. We named her Chela for our student loans were on a fifteen-year payment plan, so we hope she has over 15 happy healthy years with us.
We picked her. Luke agreed. I agreed. She responded to us. I signed paper work. Luke held her lead. She gave him kisses. She was sweet. She coughed a little. She walked with us. She seemed genuinely happy to be out of the doggie fair. She followed us to the car. She pranced. Her paperwork said she was a terrier. But the more I looked at her, there was something familiar about her face.
Enilde
Ginger Van Hook holds Sasha Van Hook as she goes for her first visit to Northern California on the border of Northern Nevada where the Sierra Mountains kiss the sky and the rivers run with icy waters. Being a city dog, Sasha is uncomfortable with the cold water and it is a miracle she stands still on the slippery rock for this photograph.
Photo copyright by Luke Van Hook, 2007
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Sasha Van Hook, prefers to enjoy her new sun-drenched back porch in Los Angeles,
Sunny Southern California
Photography copyright Ginger Van Hook, 2007
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Squirrel Patrol Sargeant, Sasha the Red Terrier
and her new mate First Class, Pyro the Red Irish Terrier
guard their territory from trespassing varmits
and their impending approach into their sanctuary.
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook, 2009
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Sasha and Pyro Van Hook share a doggy kiss, Photograph Copyright Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy from the Van Hook Collection
Pyro Van Hook, is adopted from the Carson Shelter in January of 2009
to become the newest furry Van Hook member of the family.
The red Irish Terrier is told that Sasha is a dominant dog and
if he wants to live here, he'll have to go by Super Sasha rules...
no eating Sasha food, no getting on the couch, no sniffing the cockatiels,
no playing with the turtles and most of all, bark loud for any and all intruders!
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook, 2009
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Ginger Van Hook with Sasha and Pyro Photo copyright Luke Van Hook, 2009
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection, 2009
MEMORIAL TRIBUTE TO BELLA VAN HOOK 1994-2005
JUNIOR VAN HOOK 1993-1998 and CELBEE VAN HOOK 1998-2004
Royal Cup Coffee House Gallery, Long Beach, California 2006Husband and Wife Show, Ginger and Luke Van Hook
Copyright and Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Enilde Van Hook on the sand an in the surf with Beach Bella, 2003
Pacific Coast, California, Photo copyright Luke Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Bella and Celbee Van Hook enjoy a nap at the Motel before hiking in the woods. Mount Shasta Vacation, Weed, California, 2003
Photograph copyright by Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Bella Van Hook riding in her Red Wagon, 2005
Photography copyright Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Portrait of Bella Van Hook, 2005 Enhanced Digital Photography Copyright by Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Bella On Vacation, Yosemite 2005
Photograph copyright Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Celbee in the Driver's Seat, Parkinglot, Los Angeles, California 2004
Photography copyright Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Bella's Face, Early in the morning, 2004Digitally Enhanced Photo Copyright Ginger Van Hook
Original Photo by Peter Bolten,
Digitally Enhanced Photo by Ginger Van Hook, copyright, 2005
Courtesy from the Van Hook Collection
Photographic Tribute/Memorial to Bella Van Hook's life
Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Journal Entry from the Diary of Enilde Van Hook
April 23, 2005
Dearest Friend,
Bella has had a very difficult night and her nightmare has continued on through this morning and now it is afternoon. She is panting in pain. Her eyes are red and bloodshot from lack of sleep. Or are those Luke’s eyes that I see from crying. I have been crying too. We told our neighbor Don and he rushed over to say goodbye, now that we know the end is near. A lot of people love Bella. Bella is a very loving soul. I talked to her this morning about leaving us. I told her if it was too painful to stay here with us, that she could go with Celbee and Junior and my sister Else if she chose to. Just let us know Bella. I don’t know exactly what happens when you travel, because I haven’t personally gone on this journey myself, but I explained, my sister Else told me in whispers that she was all right. That somehow it was not as frightening as everyone thinks. I can only say that you have been the kindest, most loyal friend two people could ever be blessed to have in a lifetime. We have been blessed with you from the moment you walked into our hearts at six weeks old. We saw you jump into the river in Pleasant Valley because you thought you had to save Junior from drowning when you were 8 weeks old. I thought the river would swallow you up. Junior came back to shore struggling. You crawled up the side of the rocks in the river like you were a wet river rat and you could climb anything. This cancer has been the biggest mountain you have had to climb, dearest Bella. We saw you chase away a bear from camp in Lake Tahoe and witnessed you get gored by a bull and come back to bite him in the leg and made him jump back over the fence to run away from you.
In your own back yard, even the birds salute you, Queen Bella. You know that the seeds we planted together last week have sprouted? Here, take a look. It is the Rose Queen that has come up from the wet earth to remind you of our wonderful times together. You have kept papa and mama in shape by making us run after you for about eleven years. It isn’t fair that you should have inherited such a painful disease at this stage of your life.
Your good times and good memories abound. Running on the beach, running up in Big Bear Lake, running in Alpine, swimming at Lake Tahoe and running from hotel security at Circus Circus Hotel in Las Vegas. You’ve traveled to Oregon to visit Becky and Noah and gone up and down the coast of California. You had already conquered Nevada when you took over California. Large and in charge, Bella, you ran us and held our hearts in your paws.
At this time, Luke and I are with you on the grass, laptop beside me and Luke is making drawings of you. Our closeness quiets your moans. You sleep for minutes at a time between the sharp pain shooting through your shoulder. We make the appointment with the Vet for you today at 2:40pm. We will let the doctor evaluate you, but if it is time, then we must say goodbye, for now. Until we meet again.
Enilde and Luke Van Hook,
“Farewell to Bella”, 2005
**********************************************************************************
LUKE VAN HOOK
Fine Artist Painting
courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Painting, Oil on Canvas, 10" x 12" by Artist Luke Van Hook
Photograph of Painting Copyright and Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Luke and Ginger Van Hook
Portrait of Bella Van Hook 2005,
(Bella's last days with us, aged 11 in human years)
Drawing, Graphite on Paper, 6" x 15" by Artist Luke Van Hook
Photograph of Drawing copyright and courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Luke and Ginger Van Hook
Los Angeles, California, 2005
"Portrait of Celbee Van Hook"
Red Queensland Heeler aged 3 in human years
wears white BVD shorts and white t-shirt, integrated into the artworld.
Celbee Van Hook goes to Art School, Otis College of Art and Design 2003
Oil on Panel, Painting, by Luke Van Hook
Photograph and Painting copyright Luke and Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
"I'm So Sorry" Oil on Canvas, 14" x 16" Painting by Luke Van Hook, 2005
Photograph and Painting copyright Luke and Ginger Van Hook
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
On the fringes of the Golden State in Northern California
and the Silver State edges of Northern Nevada
one finds one of many rivers which flow down from the Sierra Mountains near Lake Tahoe.
This is the playground where artists Luke and Ginger Van Hook
took their dogs to hike, romp and play since the day they met in 1993.
This is a sacred place where we meditate upon nature,
the purity of the icy water and all the gifts that come from the mountainsides
and feed the agricultural paradise of the Carson Valley below.
Photo copyright Ginger E. Van Hook
Sasha Van Hook, a three year old red terrier mix is the new addition
to the Van Hook Family as of March 2007.
Luke and Ginger take Sasha to the same river
where all their other dogs had romped and hiked and played before.
Junior, the 140 pound Rottweiller, Bella the Airedale and
Celbee Van Hook, the Queensland Heeler
all took turns in their short lives collecting rocks from the river,
catching sticks in the woods, and chasing fish
in the translucent river waters of the forests on the border of California and Nevada.
Sasha Van Hook, unlike her predecessors before her, does not like water or getting wet.
Thus, Sasha prefers to chase squirrels and rabbits and deer, but she won't go near the water.
Photograph copyright Ginger and Luke Van Hook, 2007
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
After a long hike, Luke Van Hook poses with Bella and Celbee
in Indian Hills above our home in an area of Carson City, Nevada, 1999.
Bella would often wake Luke up in the morning with a robust bark as she pounced his chest, urging her beloved owner to take her for a walk.
Digitally enhanced photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2005
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection
Writer/Photographer Enilde Ginger Van Hook
poses for Luke Van Hook as a model with the dogs Celbee and Bella
during their years in art school at Otis College of Art and Design.
Photograph and Painting copyright Ginger and Luke Van Hook, 2003
Courtesy of the Van Hook Collection.
Tribute to Celbee, (Red Queensland Heeler) and Poem
by Luke Van Hook, 2004
Death has graced my door a few times. How come every time that bastard steals away someone that I’m close to I become pissed and jealous? It’s the only time that nothing else matters. Nothing, including painting and I hate it for having that power. Celbee our dog is courting death right now. The tumor is cutting off his breathing. It forces itself through the roof of his mouth to where he can barely close his mouth. It squeezes its way alongside his brain so that his right eye is going blind as it bulges out of its socket. I write this after picking up the bloody chunks that Celbee is able to scrape out with a little pebble he found in the dirt. He’s invented his own tool for dealing with death. I wonder if he knows that his time is limited? The cancer ticks away at Celbee’s time with us. Death doesn’t play favorites. This I respect. I find strength in thinking about other things. Can you imagine an art of pure emotion, no excess? What form could it mediate in? I can only think of Bas Jan Ader’s, ‘I’m too sad to tell you’ photograph that comes close.
But, this will change.
TODAY WE PUT HIM DOWN
Where are you at?
Really, are you better off?
As I sit on your blood soaked couch
The weight of your head is tattooed
In my thoughts.
This morning we fed the prisoner
his last meal of bacon and eggs
and took him for a long walk down by the sea.
This day the ashen clouds parted to light your path.
I’m sorry. When you crawled under my chair
To get away from the doctor I knew you were not ready.
But I dragged you out to help you feel better.
Did I do the right thing?
Should I have picked you up in my arms
and run away with you till you told me it was time?
Could you still see me when your lip was quivering?
I miss the sound of your voice already.
You fought your way out of this cruel world with your eyes wide open.
Thank you.
If it is a lonely place, wait for me, I won’t be much longer.
Good Bye, Good Bye, Good Bye.
Artist statement by Luke Van Hook,
Courtesy of Van Hook Published Thesis,
Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, 2004
Luke Van Hook's current work in the area of abstraction
with an emphasis on the
circle
can be viewed on his website
www.lukevanhook.com
***********************************************************************************
ALEX IN WELDERLAND
The "Church of Art" is located in one of the buildings inside the artist colony known as The Brewery Arts Complex in Los Angeles, California. Usually, a church is linked with holy worship, service to the community, and in particular, spiritual matters. A church is often where people go to seek comfort for the death of a loved one, to rejoice in the celebration of weddings and or to collect one's spiritual blessings or to simply and most importantly, to worship the God one believes in. At the Brewery Arts Complex there is such a space, aptly called "Church of Art" where the activities are somewhat unexpected. There seems to be a worship of the arts in particular and a great deal of artistic and musical performing, artists gathering and joyous merriment occurring in a space that seems to transcend its own mission...aptly located off of Mission Street on the 5 freeway. Beside this building and a few yards down there is indeed a small niche where one may seek comfort for the death of a beloved pet,
called "Alex in Welderland".
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook, 2007
The celebration times are posted outside the "Church of Art",
Brewery Arts Complex, Los Angeles, California.
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook, 2007
The "Church of Art" located inside the Brewery Arts Complex, Los Angeles, California.
Photo copyright, Ginger Van Hook 2007
Just off of Mission Road from the 5 freeway, one finds the infamous
Brewery Arts Complex, supporting a unique artist colony.
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook, 2007
Located within red brick and morter,
one finds the Brewery Artist Colony in Los Angeles, California.
Photo copyright, Ginger Van Hook 2007
A famous symbol of the triumph of local arts within the confines of a busy metropolis, one can see the tall column that portrays the name of an old Brewery that has been converted into an artist sanctuary where local artists live, work, play and perform their artistic rituals. One may also find comfort in a unique opportunity to memorialize one's pets by visiting Alex in Welderland in her artist space or visit custompeturns.com
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook 2007
www.custompeturns.com
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook 2007
Sasha Van Hook accompanied me to visit the Brewery Artist Colony and personally met Alexandra of "Alex in Welderland". Sasha, the 40 pound red terrier mix wore a designer muzzle in order to encourage her good behavior with other doggies in the complex. Although Sasha was very cooperative and grateful to the artistic visit, she does not look particularly happy contemplating her next life. Sasha prefers to chase cats, intimidate other dogs and run loose, all activities that have been discouraged by her new family
unless she is behind a strong fence.
Photo copyright Ginger Van Hook 2007
ALEX IN WELDERLAND, artist statement 2007
courtsey of her website www.custompeturns.com
Each of these hand created pet cremation urns are customized
for your special, beautiful, wonderful, perfect pet.
Hello, My name is Alexandra.
I want to welcome you to my custom pet urn memorial site,
at www.custompeturns.com
dedicated to all the dogs and cats who await us on the Rainbow Bridge of our hearts.
I have been a metal artist for the last 15 years. I have also been picking lost pets up off the street and finding homes for them for just as long. Both are my love.
I know what it is like to lose a dog or cat that you love so much.
We know they await for us over the Rainbow Bridge,
but for us down here, our hearts still grieve.
I hope I can ease your loss today. I started creating these pet memorials and urns as small memorial sculptures. I have lately included some wonderful hand chosen artists who are also creating beautiful memorials and urns for your pet. Every single one of these pet cremation urns are designed and made by hand especially for you. No two are ever alike, all are signed, dated, and each urn can be personally customized to your specifications.
They make a wonderful, sweet memorial to keep with you always.
Again, I am sorry for the loss of your pet.
But I hope by owning one of my pet memorials you will be reminded of the joy and happiness your dog, cat or other loved one brought to you and your life. This is a hard time, harder than most people admit.
Memorializing your loved cat or dog in one of our hand crafted urns
(we do not create the urn until we receive the order from you)
will help heal your heart of this loss.
Remember, even if you are scattering or burying your pet's ashes,
you can order one of these pet urn sculptures
to keep in your home as a beautiful memorial to your loved one.
It does not have to be a "cremation urn"
but rather a memorial work of art.
When you purchase an Alex in Welderland Urn,
you are free to place it anywhere in the house.
For it is a sculpture, and does not look like the customary 'urn' or cremation 'box'.
I look forward to hearing from you. Be well, Alexandra
Pet Memorials
The loss of your pet can be a devastating time.
Often it is too emotional to even think of what to do with the body or ashes. Later we may regret that we did not cremate our loved one so we could have a pet memorial in his or her honor. This is o.k. I created these pet memorials for you to use with or without ashes.
You can simply put a letter in the memorial and then seal it.
Or you can request the cremation urn without an opening at all
and then your pet memorial becomes a true sculpture honoring your little one.
And remember they really do wait for us over the Rainbow Bridge.
If you prefer, please choose from our pet memorial portraits.
This is a wonderful way to remember your little one
if you no longer have your pets ashes
or are looking for something to go along with your pet's cremation urn.
Remember these urns do not need to contain ashes,
they can also be used as simple sculptures
if you do not have your pets ashes or have scattered them.
----Alex in Welderland
***********************************************************************************
ELENA WOLEK
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Dog on Table & Girl with Treat
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Man Sniffing Dog #1
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Dog Drinking Girl's Coffee
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Woman Taking Photo of Dog on Table
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Hungry Dog Stares Down Man Eating Burger
Drawing courtesy of Artist, Elena Wolek
Meditation of Woman, Dog and Cat
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
French Poodle Sits On Woman's Lap
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Meditation of Woman and Dog
Drawing courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Two Dogs and a Cat Meditating Together
Drawing Courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Man Sniffing Dog #2
Drawing Courtesy of Artist Elena Wolek
Enilde Van Hook Notes: I met Elena Wolek in 2008 at an Artist Critique Session with a group of artists represented by Gallery 825 and the Los Angeles Art Association. The "O" Salon was hosted by Linda Kunik in her Beverly Hills studio for alumni, students and professional artists from Otis College of Art and Design. Elena Wolek was visiting and brought her drawing book. During the break, my husband Luke and I went through her entire book delighting in the caricature of her images and decided then and there that she fit in with the theme for this blog entry: "The Art of Lovin' Animals". Her artist statement and list of exhibitions are listed below. Elena Wolek's artwork may also be viewed on her website:
www.lenawolek.com
Elena Wolek, Artist Statement
born 1972
I was born and raised on the shores of Lake Baikal, Russia in the eastern part of Siberia during the last days of the Soviet Union. Living through those times gave me intense experiences socially, intellectually and culturally that established my persona.
In 1993 I received an Associate of Arts Degree as a construction technologist.
However, I had no opportunity to work in such profession because of political and
economic changes happening during the fall of the former Soviet Union.
In 1997 I received a license to start up a private business and opened a fashion boutique.
I would travel directly to China to import goods for my shop.
In 1999 I have met an American man who became my husband. In 2001 I moved to the United States. We live together in Los Angeles with our daughter. I am currently enrolled in the Santa Monica College Art Mentor program.
My challenges in coming to this country were social and economical differences.
As I assimilated to my new lifestyle and surrounding life, I realized how narrow points of view of political knowledges were given to both our countries about each other during the Cold war.
I had a baggage of values that had to be reevaluated. Discovering America opened my mind to the world and I now accept the differences in human cultures as a precious gift.
Art is a language for me and I express my observations of the world through it.
Everyone has a privilege to see the world in their own perspective that is given to us by our culture and it is part of our inner and outer being. My conscious and subconscious are juxtaposed in my art. I share my experiences and interpretations of my views from my life in Russia and America.
In the dog drawings I put together dog and human in the moment of a contact that establishes a relationship. But who is who in reality, being that the roles are reversed? A homeless and hungry dog can be a poor human being like beggars in downtown Los Angeles. Sometimes we use word “dog” to describe our own condition “hungry as a dog,” “dog-tired,” “every dog has its day,” etc.
If you are dog in Siberia, you experience a very harsh life. You are meant to be a guard for people’s property and that is it. You live outside even in the cold of winter, and most of the time attached to an iron chain only a few meters long. You have a small ‘doggie” house the size of your body, but not always high enough to stretch your back; but it will be warmer in a winter to heat up the interior with your own breath. Your food is scraps from your owner’s table diluted with warm water and bread for a larger amount. You are lucky if you have it once a day. If you are a bitch, your new born puppies will be most likely taken from you right after you deliver them and you never see them again, being that they shall most likely be killed.
If you are dog in America, you have a wonderful dream life. People have an enormous attraction to their pets. As an average American doggie you have many privileges, such as nice house with bed shared with your owner, personal doctor (sometimes even orthodontist), nice clothes if it is cooler outside, regular walks and food by schedule. People are so kind and lovely, they like to talk, to play and buy special treats for you.Dogs can live as nice a life as some people wish, or dogs can live a terrible life as some people do.
It’s a dog eat dog world.
Art Exhibitions, Elena Wolek
2006-West LA college gallery. Group show.
2008-SMC mentor program group show.
2008-Upstairs Market gallery. Group show.
********************************************************************************
ZAREH
Untitled Drawing, Courtesy of Zareh
Untitled Drawing, Courtesy of Zareh, 2001
Untitled Drawing, Courtesy of Zareh, 2003
Untitled Drawing, Courtesy of Zareh, 2003
Enilde Van Hook notes:
I met Zareh through the Monrovia Association of Fine Arts in 2005.
Zareh has a unique approach to art in that he uses several mediums to express his voice and his political views. I reviewed a number of his video works and then came upon one of his drawing exhibitions in Glendale where he utilized animals to express, in very subtle fashion, some of the feelings he has about the challenges of life he faced as he was growing up. One may visit his website by going to this link: www.artistzareh.com
Below are links to a film of Zareh's artwork performance:
"The Red Trees Of The Armenian Genocide" is on YouTube and Zareh wanted to share them. They are 2 parts. Enjoy and please forward them to others--(Zareh)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZaGWguVPqI part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y2gwBlA8tM part 2
ZarehArtist Biography and Statement, 2009
Zareh was born in 1956, in Aleppo, Syria, to Armenian parents. In 1963 he moved to Beirut, Lebanon, with his family.
At 12, Zareh began taking art classes. After high school, he attended fine art classes at Al Kaslik University for a year, until his academic studies were curtailed by the outbreak of the Lebanese civil war. The hostilities had a profound effect on Zareh.
Zareh moved to the United States in 1983. Since 1988, he has participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions throughout Southern California, and has staged several live,public exhibits.Zareh lives and works in Los Angeles.
Zareh, Artist Statement:
Existence is a collective experience. The feeling of existence is a sense of being different. Differences engender reaction and reaction leads to change. Life is the change. Changes bring awareness of time and movement. Differences enable us to compare and measure. Measure and proportion are the logic of mind. Completion and perfection do not exist. Reality is not absolute, it is relative. Art is an expression relative to environment and period.
My art is an act in which time and transformation seek existence in movement, change, sequence, repetition, relationship and resemblance. My work conveys feelings, imagination, communication, struggle, relief and my marks of existence.
Below is more about the use of animals in my artwork:
I have been influenced by animals and used them in my art.
Long shapes from animals have been shown more in my art,
like beaks of birds, sharp, coming down as the long metal
of ambrellas in a windy and rainy day, the hair and horn of a
running animal, the legs and tail of a horse, fish flying out of a pan,
group of people becoming the wing of a bird, roof tops becoming
teeth of a dog or becoming tails of an attacking airplane bomber.
Shapes repeated and changed becoming or resembling something
else in a different situation.
Currently Monrovia Library Park is under construction, but in the recent past, one of the largest Art Festivals in the area was hosted under the Library Trees. 
Lush green trees thrive all over Pasadena, California, home of the Rose Bowl where Joel Tauber fell in love with a Sycamore Tree. Photo by Ginger Van Hook, 2008
Trees at the Skirball Museum and Cultural Center thrive and enjoy the mild California climate.
To get to the Bristlecone Pine Forest (The White Mountains), one must travel up Highway 395 where you will see some of the most incredible tree landscapes change from one terrain to another. The journey through this route takes you through small towns, dessert communities and communities by the river where climates can vary between dry and sandy to lush and forest green, as well as from wintery snowy landscapes to dry harsh cactus plains between Northern California and Northern Nevada.
Camping is permitted in designated camping areas only; no campfires are permitted unless in designated firepits in order to protect the landscape from its very dry conditions.
Photographers witnessing the tree-planting ceremony at USC on January 24, 2008. 
Witnessing the tree planting ceremony, Donna Stein, Development Director at USC Gayle Garner Roski School of Fine Arts, declared she had adopted a special tree-baby sapling of her own from Joel Tauber's extensive collection of tree babies... 
