By Contributing Columnist and Columnist Team LeaderLindaGJ aka LindaGJ

“My desire to paint is so strong, I feel the energy stirring in my right hand” Adine Rotman

I had the pleasure of meeting this fascinating artist at the First Saturday Artists Market in the Heights of Houston a few years ago and I was floored when I saw her work and I think yall will be floored as well! She has a wonderful story along with obstacles she fought to overcome. Before I tell you more about her, you must know that I have never seen her without a glowing bright smile on her beautiful face.

Digging deeper into Adine’s life, I have found that she is a native Houstonian. “I love being part of the vibrant Houston artist community because there’s always so much going on in the local scene”.

After graduating from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, Adine enrolled in a language school in Cuernava, Mexico and lived with a Mexican family in Guadalajara in order to be fluent enough to become a bilingual elementary school teacher and worked as a Pre-Kindergarten teacher for 8 years!

“My students would often ask me to draw something like a horse for them and say that they couldn’t draw. I would insist that they could draw and I would have them try. They would show me their drawing and I would say “Wow! You did it!” It was magical to see how their eyes would light up with joy. Seeing this reaction made me realize that I wanted to be an artist. I enrolled in the art department of HBU for painting and art education classes.”

She also got her degree in graphic design but she discovered that she prefered creating art with her own hand and brush instead of the computer. She not only took graphic design to get her associate degree at the Art Institution of Houston but also took art classes at the Glassell School of Art, the Houston Art League and Watercolor Arts Society Houston!

“I have greatly enjoyed teaching private watercolor classes to adults and children. I love sharing my passion for watercolor.”

Over 2 years ago Adine woke up one morning and discovered she had lost her ability to speak and the ability to write with her right hand. After a lot of tests, a nuerologist diagnosed her with Multiple Sclerosis.

 “My friend Charla, suggested I read a book, “BEYOND MS: It’s All in The Image” by Nancy Bent. Nancy tells her story about how she lost control of her muscles to the point where her mother-in-law had to open doors for her. Nancy met Dr. Akter Ahsen,PH.D., the founder of the Eidetic Analysis Institute in New York. Dr. Ahsen taught her to use eidetics to heal her body and now Nancy is completely healed and strong and healthy. Nancy now works as an eidetic therapist.”

Adine started working this past summer with Charla Bruce, an eidetic therapist, and the difference in her health has drastically and dramatically improved!

“I have so much energy now, it is amazing. I don’t even remember I have MS anymore. I can do anything I want now and before, I used to have to have very limited energy and extreme fatigue. I am so grateful to have my health back and that I no longer take daily shots or any other medication.”
 

How fabulous Adine!!!

After this wonderful news, Adine told me that she loves to travel and recently went to Western Europe. Her travel photos inspired some of her current paintings, including landscapes from her visit to Brugges, Belgium. Steve, her life partner, and her, took a breathtaking boat ride through the beautiful Brugges water canals.

“I love experimenting with the subtlety of the transparent nature of watercolors. My desire to paint is so strong, I feel the energy stirring in my right hand. Everything I see seems to be a potential painting or at least a potential subject to sketch. I am always curious to see what will happen when I try to capture what I’m viewing with watercolors on paper”.

Adine loves to paint everything in nature but her speciality is watercolor portraits of cats and dogs. She just finished a portrait of Zeke, a beloved dog that lived in Dallas that recently died of cancer. The owner wanted a portrait to hang in her office in Dallas.
During Adine’s watercolor class at Glassell, one of the students decided to hire her to paint a watercolor portrait of her two beloved cats to keep as a memory of them. They had passed away and all she had was a photo of them. The client’s reaction to the finished painting was awesome! The client had tears of joy and excitement!

” I do my pet commissions from photos and many times the pet has passed away and all that’s left is the photo. I still feel a strong connection to the beautiful animal as I work on the portrait painting. I feel like I’m sharing my gift with the pet owner. The reaction when I’m finished with the portrait is unforgettable! The owner gets so excited to see the final result. It’s an amazing feeling to see them so joyful!”

Adine’s self portrait and painting “Cat With a Shadow” were both selected for the Glassell School of Art annual exibition’

She is going to be a volunteer art judge for an educational science themed party about compost worms. One of the party activities will be and drawing contest. Adine also has donated her time and art to many charities such as the Houston Pet Place League and the Texas Children’s Hospital Cancer Center.

” I love to meet and be surrounded by other artists who are creating, expecially with watercolors. I enjoy painting at the Art League on Wednesday evenings and I am also am enjoying a pen, ink , and watersolor class at WAS-H. It’s always fascinating to see what the other artists are doing. In addition, it’s fun to keep up with other artists through the many artist groups in Flickr. Also, in Houston, we have wonderful opportunities to see the local Houston artists at openings every weekend, and on the First Satuday Arts Market, where I visit friends that show there”.

Adine’s enthusiam for art and life are so tremendous that anyone that meets this “Ray of Sunshine” and sees her beautiful artwork, is bound to be inspired!

Adine Rotman’s links are:
www.adineswatercolors.com
www.cafepress.com/adine
http://www.flickr.com/photos/adinerotman/
http://twitter.com/adinerotman

You are about to see a slideshow of some of Adine’s paintings. I had to narrow them down, but you are welcome to visit her site’s and also contact her through them!
Enjoy!

Tags: art school, houston artists, lindagj, ms, Multiple Sclerosis. artist, painting, watercolor

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