It Took 75 Years and a Stop in Lebanon, but Painter Found Paradise
He stole his brother’s drawing book when he was 9, but 69 years would pass before e’Lee Doumar would flourish as a full-time artist.
Born in Cairo, Egypt, where he went to art school, Doumar worked there as a graphic artist and as an illustrator for an advertising company. In his spare time, he began to sell his designs of leather products to manufacturers. Then he opened his own shoe and handbag factory.
But his dream was to come to America.
“Even though I was successful in Egypt I wanted to go to where there was freedom, no fighting, no religious problems--where I could be an artist,” Doumar said from his studio in Mar Vista.
He left Egypt in 1962, but his path to the United States had a detour. He set up shop as a leather goods manufacturer in Lebanon, and prospered there for a decade before the political situation deteriorated. Finally, at 60, Doumar, his wife, Jeanette, and their three children moved to Los Angeles.
He tried a new career too--this time in real estate. He spent several years learning the business as he worked for another brokerage, then he and his son, Bill, opened their own shop, Doumar Realty.
It was finally in 1988, at the age of 75, that he decided to retire so he could do what he always wanted: paint.
“Now I am in paradise,” Doumar said, sweeping his arm around his canvas-filled studio, “I come here every day and paint for six hours. I put on the music and feel happy because I am in a challenge with myself.”
Doumar paints everything from portraits to landscapes and is experimenting with the palette knife rather than brush. He sold eight paintings in a recent show at a Marina del Rey gallery. The pastel colors he chooses come from his love of Monet and Renoir.
“I tell my friends that when you have the desire to do something it means you should do it. . . . Just do it even if it takes a long time. It’s like you say, ‘Look, I did something, I was here, I left something of myself--a souvenir,’ ” he said.
And his friends listen to him. One recently returned to college in his mid-70s and began to write poetry.
Doumar’s day begins at 6 a.m. By 6:30, he is taking a 45-minute walk. He comes home, drinks a few cups of coffee, then runs errands with Jeanette. But by 10 a.m. he is in his paradise.
“I have so many subjects to paint. I have time to do them all, for I will live 150 years because I am 25 in here and here,” he said, touching his forehead and the left side of his chest.
For Doumar, finally doing what he loves at this stage in his life has one major advantage that was not available to him as a younger man struggling to make a living: He has no obstacles. And for a man who speaks five languages fluently, has been successful in two careers, he’s ready for his next success.
Bulletin Board
AARP--The American Assn. of Retired Persons will present a performance by the Madrigal Chorus of Santa Monica High School; Ken Edwards Center, 1527 4th St., Santa Monica; 1 p.m. Friday; information: (310) 453-4778 ($5 dues per year).
Senior Club--The Cheviot Hills Senior Citizens Club will feature David Handleman, senior vice president of external affairs at 20th Century Fox studios; Cheviot Hills Recreation Center, 2551 Motor Ave., Los Angeles; 10:45 a.m. Friday; information: (310) 839-1819 ($1 members, $1.25 non-members).
Health Care--The YWCA West Los Angeles/Beverly Hills Branch will sponsor “Don’t Let the Nursing Home Become Your Poorhouse”; 10936 Santa Monica Blvd., West Los Angeles; 10 a.m. Saturday; reservations required; information: (310) 478-1228 (free).
