Countywide : Wreck Injuries Lead Artist to New Subject

Carol Goldmark has been painting since she was a child and teaching art since she was 13. For years, she said, her favorite theme was flowers.

But after being severely injured in a freeway collision, she found a new subject: the human body. After a painful 10-week recovery at UCI Medical Center, she recalled, she realized that her interest in flowers was related to their rapid progression from life to death.

Like the human body, she said, “they wrinkle, dry and fall away as they get older. They move as I draw them.”

After she left the hospital, she began a serious exploration of anatomy, sitting in on classes and labs at UC Irvine. Some of the results of her studies are on display this week at the Irvine Marketplace: depictions of flowers and details of the human form in charcoal, paint and oil crayons.

One delicate painting of flowers, for example, also shows glimpses of fingers, noses and eyes, all in intricate detail.

Medical students who stopped by to see the exhibit said they were impressed. “She showed us how really beautiful” the body can be, said Kriss Dellota, a second-year medical student who was a subject for one of Goldmark’s sketches.

Goldmark, 53, a Buena Park resident who teaches at schools across Orange County, has set up her free exhibit so that patrons can participate. At the center of the room is a table with art supplies that visitors may use.

The gallery is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today and from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Irvine Marketplace on Campus Drive. Information: (714) 724-6880.