Artist Is Limited Only by His Imagination

In a Santa Monica gallery, artist Robert Thome uses a mouthpiece connected with a pastel crayon to sketch a portrait.

A leader among disabled people, Thome takes his work to the Sam Francis Gallery at Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences. The exhibit, containing 23 of his works, continues through Nov. 23.

“(The exhibit) feels good,” said the Montebello resident. “A lot of people don’t know about mouth painters. I love doing it.”

As a teen-ager, Thome liked to draw. When a football accident paralyzed him from the neck down, he saw his artistic dreams disappear. As a means of therapy, he enrolled in an art class a decade after the accident. He began drawing with a pen in his mouth.

“Secretly, I wanted to do well,” he said. “In the beginning, I was terrible. I had to learn to get control and once I was able to, ideas were my only limitation.”

Life, though, was not always easy. Thome frequently suffered bouts of depression. It was not until he served as best man in his step-brother’s wedding that his life took a dramatic turn. That was where he met his future wife, Kathy; within a month, he proposed.

With the encouragement of his wife, Thome pursued his dream of becoming an artist. Many of his paintings pay tribute to his family and friends. The vibrant colors and images in his works reflect the warmth and love of his supportive family.

“After I got married, it became a matter of my imagination,” he said. “My wife is the one (who inspires me) and nothing would be possible without her.”

Using a cross-hatch technique of painting and drawing, Thome has developed a unique style. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. Honors include being accepted into the International Mouth and Foot Painters Assn. In 1991, he was also invited by President Bush’s Committee on Hiring the Disabled to exhibit and demonstrate his work.

Between projects, Thome makes time to give back to the community. As a founding member of the Artability Art Assn., a group of artists with disabilities committed to artistic excellence, he also conducts workshops and has helped implement art programs for the disabled at the San Diego Rehabilitation Institute.

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Board of Supervisors Chairman Ed Edelman has appointed Brenda Freiberg to the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV/AIDS.

The Westwood resident, a business and marketing consultant to the president of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, is one of 18 commission members. Duties include making recommendations on HIV and AIDS issues to the Board of Supervisors and the director of health services.

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Jennifer Stevens served as co-chairwoman of the National Kidney Foundation of Southern California’s “Carnival Cut-a-thon” Oct. 10 in Los Angeles.

The fund-raising event offered haircuts, styling and other salon services from local salons.

The Marina del Rey resident is director of marketing for the Hollywood Athletic Club.

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Alex Grobman has been named director of the Martyrs Memorial and Museum of the Holocaust of the Jewish Federation Council.

Grobman, former director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles and a founding director of the St. Louis Center for Holocaust Studies, is the author of two books about the Holocaust. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and master’s and doctoral degrees in contemporary Jewish history from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

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The American Cancer Society awarded its Volunteer of the Year Award to Robert Swan of Beverly Hills.

The longtime volunteer at the Los Angeles Coastal Cities Unit was honored for his dedicated service. He has served on the board of directors for five years.

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Dr. Leon Bender was given the Maimonides Award for his contributions to the medical field.

Bender, a former chief of staff for Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, is chairman of the California Medical Assn.’s Professional Liability Committee. He was honored Oct. 24 at the State of Israel Bonds gala at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Marina del Rey.

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