In the Eyes of the Beholder: Literary Interpretations of an Artist’s Work

By Silvia Maria Rey

In the Eyes of the Beholder is an exploration of the symbiotic relationship between viewing a work of art and the emotions and memories it evokes.

Fifteen artworks were selected. Each piece was assigned to two different people with no other information than to use as a writing prompt. In some instances, an immediate emotional response was aroused and the writing flowed. In other cases, the work evoked a personal memory and led the writer to reflect on current sociological themes or current events. The resulting works span a wide range of topics, genres, and writing styles; but each piece is unique and made the author stretch and expand their writing skills.

We all have a story to tell about the piece, and that story may have nothing to do with the artist’s intent in creating the artwork.

That is the seminal point of this book.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664143906

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Copyright © 2020 by Silvia Maria Rey. 813397

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced

or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any

information storage and retrieval system, without permission

in writing from the copyright owner.

The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author

and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and

the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

ISBN: 978-1-6641-4392-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6641-4391-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6641-4390-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020923356

Rev. date: 11/27/2020

In the Eyes of

the Beholder

Literary Interpretations of an Artist’s Work

Written by Sílvia María Rey

Edited by Robbie Woliver

Contents

ABOUT ROBBIE’S WRITERS

LIST OF STORIES

LIST OF ARTWORK

INTRODUCTION

ROBBIE’S BIO

MY ARTISTIC JOURNEY

HOLD MY HAND

DEBRA’S BIOGRAPHY

SUNDOWN IN DE ZILK

LUCIE’S BIOGRAPHY

BROKEN PROMISES AND DOG POOP

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

AUTUMN BRIDGE

ANNABELLE’S BIOGRAPHY

THE BRIDGE

JANET’S BIOGRAPHY

THE JOURNEY TO FREEDOM THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

GLORIOUS NEW DAY

BLANCA’S BIOGRAPHY

LOST ON THE RIGHT PATH

ELI’S BIOGRAPHY

THE COLORS OF WINTER

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

STILLNESS

MARIE’S BIOGRAPHY

BLUE, GRAY, AND BLACK

CHRIS’S BIOGRAPHY

A SPRING DAY—THE STRUGGLE IS REAL!

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

BEACH TALK

SANDY’S BIOGRAPHY

THE POCKET GODS’ TYPHOON

COLLEEN’S BIOGRAPHY

WELL, ISN’T THIS JUST BEACHY!

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

THE TRADE

CAROLYN’S BIOGRAPHY

DYAD

NIRVANI’S BIOGRAPHY

PESADILLA DRIVE

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

SMOOTH STONES

EILEEN’S BIOGRAPHY

WISDOM BY THE CREEK

ALLISON’S BIOGRAPHY

ALL THE COLORS OF THE RAINBOW

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

THE DISMAL SWAMP

JANE’S BIOGRAPHY

PEEK-A-BOO

VANESSA’S BIOGRAPHY

CAPTAIN SKIPPY

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

THE BOY

MARY’S BIOGRAPHY

BEYOND

LISA’S BIOGRAPHY

TO MY SON ON HIS FORTIETH BIRTHDAY

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

FINDING MYSELF

NANCY’S BIOGRAPHY

OUT ON A LEDGE

CHRISTINE’S BIOGRAPHY

THE HUMILITY CONTROVERSY

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

GATEWAY TO SUMMERS PAST

ANNA’S BIOGRAPHY

FOREVER UNCLEAN

RALPH’S BIOGRAPHY

PAPA LITO’S BENCH

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

A LOWER EAST SIDE STORY

CATHERINE’S BIOGRAPHY

THE CURTAIN

DIANA’S BIOGRAPHY

HAPPINESS IS TWO KINDS OF ICE CREAM

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

INEXPLICABLY

ADINA’S BIOGRAPHY

BENEATH THE SHELTERING OAK

CATHY’S BIOGRAPHY

I AM THE MIGHTY OAK

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

THE CLASH

SCOTT’S BIOGRAPHY

ROCKET MAN

ALMARIE’S BIOGRAPHY

I AM IMPERFECTION PERFECTED

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

THE FULLNESS OF PLACE

JANET’S BIOGRAPHY

THE CULTURE OF DEATH: AN AFRICAN WIDOW’S BURDEN

KWAKU’S BIOGRAPHY

PETEY THE PARAKEET

ABOUT THE ARTWORK

EPILOGUE

ABOUT THE ARTIST AND AUTHOR

ABOUT THE COVER ARTWORK

ABOUT THE BOOK

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

This book is dedicated to Robbie and the thirty authors who were kind enough to accept the challenge of looking at my artwork and bringing each piece to life through their imaginative and thoughtful stories. I am humbled and truly grateful that they shared their remarkable talents with me in order to bring this book to fruition.

Sílvia María

About Robbie’s Writers

There are people that come into your life for the singular purpose of enriching it and making you a better person.

They ask for nothing in return.

That is the essence of the group called Robbie’s Writers, encompassing a diverse group of individuals of all ages ranging from college students to—well, let’s just say to some who are enjoying what we like to think of as the golden, although a bit tarnished, years. They come from all walks of life, with different educational backgrounds and a wide array of experiences. Some are single; some are married, divorced, widowed, or a combination thereof. They are as different as night and day, yet as similar as peas in a pod. What they do have in common is a passion for writing and sharing their stories. The end result has brought about a community of writers who have bonded and lost the fear of sharing their work to bare their souls to a group who were once strangers but are now family. At the heart of this group is Robbie Woliver, our mentor, writing guru, and friend. None of this would be possible without the symbiotic relationship that has developed through our writing workshop sessions.

List of Stories

List of Artwork

#1 The Last Goodbye

#2 With This Ring

#3 Vista Del Puente Colonial Yayabo

#4 Morning Glow

#5 Cloud Study #5

#6 Fire Island Surf

#7 The Blue Door

#8 River Rocks

#9 Serenity Swamp

#10 Row, Row, Row Your Boat

#11 Grand Canyon #1

#12 Bench at Sagamore Hill

#13 What Lies Behind the Curtain?

#14 Oak at Sagamore Hill

#15 Chihuly’s Balls (Detail)

#16 Chihuly’s Balls (Study)

#17 Osprey’s Nest on Shelter Island

#18 Twenty-Two and the Future Looks Bright

Introduction

by Robbie Woliver

In January 2014, I thought it might be fun to teach a memoir-writing workshop at the South Huntington Public Library, in Huntington Station, New York. You know, Everyone has a story. Fortunately, the farsighted Catherine Schmoller was in charge of the library’s programming and she went for this idea, which was a success from the start. The first workshop filled up, then the second, the third, and then we started having a little problem…veterans of the workshops were re-registering for upcoming workshops, closing out new registrants, so we had to create even more workshops, eventually evolving into other genres like Creative Writing, Fiction, Short Stories and Novella Writing. A cult began to form. Hopeful registrants even joked that securing a place in these workshops was more difficult than getting Springsteen tickets, and Robbie’s Writers, as they began to refer to themselves, found themselves one step away from sleeping at the library overnight so they could sign up within the first four minutes of registration; otherwise they’d be closed out. These fearless writers stood in the snow and the rain; they had their phones on automatic redial; Jane called from a cruise ship in the Baltic! Adding new workshops enabled us to gather more new dedicated writers, and the mix of veterans and newbies turned out to be a creative blessing. At one point, in fact, when I was assembling a public reading by alumni, 68 talented workshop alumni signed up—all worthy of the title all-star.

We meet once a week for six weeks, and our sessions consist of the writers reading their latest story (often an assignment inspired by a prompt), with the group providing constructive critiques, along with a few lessons providing a wide range of writing tips. Being that many of the writers have started in a memoir workshop, which are often like group-therapy sessions, they have developed strong bonds with each other, sharing intimate stories about their lives, week after week. Oh, yes, and then there’s the political and personal conversations that could go on for days that start and/or end our sessions. The point is, these writers have become family to me and to one another. Some of them have come to these workshops as writing novices and now have created formidable, publishable novels and memoirs. Some arrive with literary masterpieces already in hand. Some are there just for the inspiration and have a patchwork of pieces. In any case, brilliant writers, all. Each one has his or her own individual writing voice, and it is an entertaining and enriching two-and-a-half hours per session that we spend listening to everyone’s imaginative and compelling work. Most everyone has at least one strong writing project they’re working on, and many are juggling several at once. Christine has turned her work into a successful blog, and Anna has turned hers into a gorgeous podcast. We have teachers, professors, a professional photographer, musicians, journalists, accountants, a softball coach, hospice volunteer, marketing execs, mothers, fathers, grandparents and college students, as well as the aforementioned Catherine Schmoller, who put this all together, and her colleague and library director Janet Scherer, whose story here will powerfully touch your heart. And then there’s Silvia.

Some of my favorite assignments are when the entire group has the same prompt to work from, and we get to see how diverse and wide-ranging the imagination can be. Inspired by this, I asked Silvia if we could use her artwork-as-inspiration as a prompt one week and she agreed. The results of the assignment were terrific, and it eventually evolved into an idea to publish this book. And then we decided to have two stories per artwork because: 1) So many people wanted to participate, and 2) It would be a more powerful illustration of the eye of the beholder theme. For Silvia, it’s also a tribute to her fellow writers with whom she’s shared her life stories for the past several years, and for the group it’s a way to pay tribute to Silvia’s beautiful and inspiring artwork. Silvia put aside the inventive memoir she’s writing about her mother and life in Cuba, and turned her attention to this collaborative effort. For me, it’s a thrill to share the work of these thirty writers, who I have come to love and respect very much.

Working with Robbie’s Writers has been such an honor for me. We have become friends: we’ve shared births, deaths, illnesses, joys, and the angst of daily news together. The writers have developed memorable characters that remain with us well after readings. We have witnessed immeasurable growth in both writing and confidence. We have been fortunate enough to have long-held secrets pour out through writing, in the most healing environment. I have learned as much from all of them as they claim to have learned from me. It has truly been one of the most fun and rewarding creative experiences of my life to bear witness to these amazing creations they come up with weekly. Thank you, all.

*Editor’s Note: I was very light on the editing process. For the most part, what they wrote is what you get. Except for a few typos and universal style rules, not much was changed from the original.

Some writers like to follow rules; other’s like to break them. So, I left the stories as natural, as close to their original, as possible. If someone wrote in Chicago style, I left it. If another wrote in AP style, I left it. For example, you’ll see some writers spelling out ages, while others use numericals. A few use hyphens, some use em-dashes. Some love that Oxford comma; others don’t. I left those style items alone. Along with great writing skills and active imaginations, these kinds of diverse choices, even the minute ones, are what made our workshops so unique.

Robbie’s Bio

Robbie is a New York Times bestselling author and award-winning journalist. He was the owner of the legendary Greenwich Village music venue Folk City and is the co-author of the award-winning musical Folk City, based on his books, Bringing it All Back Home and Hoot! Robbie is the founder/co-director of the New York Music Awards, the former editor-in-chief of the Long Island Press, a writer for The New York Times, a writer and columnist at Newsday, and the senior editor of the Village Voice’s suburban edition, the Long Island Voice. He is a recipient of the prestigious Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. His writing/reporting has been published by Rolling Stone, MSN, Salon, Country Weekly, BankRate, CBS Market Watch, San Francisco Chronicle, and the New York Post. He is the author of the critically acclaimed music history book, Bringing It All Back Home, the novel, Creation, and primary-school reader, Wyoming and March. His books Alphabet Kids: A Guide to Developmental, Neurological, and Psychological Disorders for Parents and Professionals and the Amy Fisher memoir, If I Knew Then, are both award-winning bestsellers. His most recent book, 688: A Novel-in-Flash, a whodunit written in 688-word chapters, was published in June, 2020. He is currently finishing his memoir, Jukebox Daddy. Robbie taught advanced writing and journalism courses at New York State University College at Farmingdale for eight years, and currently teaches reporting at the University of Florida’s School of Journalism and Communication. His favorite all-time job, however, was when he was in his 20s, at the TSS record department, where he met his future wife, Marilyn, who was very happy to get him out of the house one night a week for his library workshops.

My Artistic Journey

Art is not what you see, but what you make others see.

—Edgar Degas

For me, the artistic endeavor of creating any piece of artwork is akin to birthing and caring for a well-loved child.

As I strive to bring forth my vision and give it life with whatever medium I am using, I constantly suffer the angst and pains of self-doubt and trepidation. These are the energies that are prevalent as I toil to bring my ideas to fruition. Oftentimes, what I envision in my mind is not quite like what I am able to produce, whether because I lack the technical abilities or the concept was not feasible for a myriad other reason. Yet I persevere, produce works, and open myself up to accolades and criticism. That is at the center of what has made me grow and forces me to strive to do better on my next