Born in Ankara, Turkey, Latife Kahraman Warshawsky’s love of art started in childhood, but it was not until much later on that she could pursue a formal arts education. During her working career, she sustained her arts desire by working with pastels, watercolors, oils, and flower arranging in her spare time. A self-taught artist, her dedication resulted in a successful exhibition in the Baraz Gallery in the Istanbul Hilton.
After immigrating to the United States in 1980, Warshawsky studied cosmetology at Golden West College. She went on to win a number of awards and make a name for herself in the beauty industry.
In 1998 Warshawsky started her formal arts education at Saddleback College. She graduated from there with an associate of arts degree and then enrolled in Laguna College of Art and Design, graduating in 2007 with her bachelor of fine arts, magna cum laude. She is now completing her master’s degree in fine arts. She has participated in nine juried exhibitions and has had her work shown in art galleries in Laguna Beach and Fresno. Warshawsky is a member of Laguna Plein Air Painters Association and the World Art Foundation.
According to Warshawsky, a Mission Viejo resident, “We live in a fast changing modern world, which becomes more and more complex each day. In trying to comprehend and assimilate my life experience, I create art. My work is the product of all forms of art that have influenced me in the past and today. I love portraying the time and the mood of the moment. When I am painting, I feel like I am writing a poem in my journal. I live in my paintings while I am creating them. They are emotional, touching, romantic, alive, exciting and thought provoking. The process of creating them is a great pleasure, joy, and meditation for me.”
She added, “Each of my paintings has its own character. I want to connect with the viewer by sharing my thoughts so that we can experience the pleasure of these feelings together. My intent is to grow in my artistic path that I could bring the highest quality to my art. I want my viewers and collectors to look for this growth and appreciate the sound of academic quality while enjoying the art.”
Warshawsky will participate in the Esther Wells Collection showing called “Three Sisters,” along with fellow artists Beverlee Warshawsky and Bracha Fox from May 30 to June 19. The 60-year-old gallery, located at 1390 South Coast Highway, Laguna Beach, will hold an opening reception for the show on Sunday, May 30, from 5 to 8 p.m., and a second reception during the June 3 Laguna Beach First Thursdays Art Walk from 6 to 9 p.m.
Bracha Fox, who was born in Chicago, moved to Jerusalem with her husband and two sons in 1957. After the birth of her fourth child, she took an art class at the City College of Jerusalem. She developed a desire to paint the character, beauty, and charm of the neighborhoods and surroundings of Jerusalem, a city steeped in history. She has had several exhibitions in Israel.
Toronto-born Beverlee Warshawsky began to love drawing at an early age, fell in love with the Impressionists when she enrolled at the Art Institute of Chicago, and knew that was how she wanted to interpret her work. She enrolled at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts.
The three artists have come together in support of an unusual Israeli learning facility for girls who suffer from learning disabilities and ADHD. Proceeds from the show will benefit the Neve Ruchama Academy for Girls in Jerusalem, a school that works with girls ages 12 to 18, who are of normal or above average intelligence but have not succeeded in their studies.
Neve Ruchama Academy, founded in 1983 by Cissie Chalkowsky, is dedicated to giving learning disabled and ADHD students the tools for success in not only their academic experience, but also throughout their entire lives. For the past 26 years, the Neve Ruchama Academy has worked with hundreds of young girls, achieving a 70-percent success rate of graduates continuing on in higher academic education. These alumni have become teachers, nurses, social workers, therapists, actresses, artists, and high technology professionals. They have entered many fields that were never considered open to students with the types of learning disabilities these students deal with daily.
Neve Ruchama Academy has started a trend that has caused a tremendous change in Israeli education, according to literature. It has become a model school, where educators from all parts of Israel and the world come to learn the educational methods developed and used for working with ADHD and learning disabled students. Many of these methods have been implemented in the general school system in Israel.
The student body at Neve Ruchama Academy consists of 190 students in grades 7 through 12. The socioeconomic population is varied, and no one is turned away for lack of payment.
For more information on the exhibit, call (949) 494-2497.
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