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work, said Ms. Chaleff-Feingold's
husband, Paul, who assists in the
business side of art — applying
for shows and exhibits as well as
packing and shipping paintings.
"There's a simplicity, yet there
are many levels that art con-
noisseurs can appreciate."
Although the faces in Ms. Chal-
eff-Feingold's paintings aren't
smiling, there's a pervasive play-
fulness and positive feeling.
"Some people have said that
the work is uplifting," she says,
"and ultimately, that's what's im-
portant to me."

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l' The Art Leaders Gallery is
located at 33216 West 14 Mile
Rd. in West Bloomfield, (810)
539-0262. The exhibit of Ms.
Chaleff-Feingold's work runs
through the end of October.

Mt. Clemens
Art Party

The fourth annual ArtParty - the
party of the year in downtown
Mount Clemens - will return
Thursday, Sept. 21, from 7-10
p.m., promising a feast for the
senses.
Macomb Place between South-
bound Gratiot and Walnut will
be closed to accommodate the
party, which will take place along
the street and in participating
shops. Participants will be able
to partake of food offered by 20
area caterers and restaurateurs.
Art displays will be set up in par-
ticipating stores.
Tickets may be purchased at
the Art Center and participating
sponsors. Advance tickets are $25
per person. Tickets purchased at
the door will be $30 per person.
Fifteen dollars of the ticket price
is tax deductible.
The Art Center is located in the
historic Carnegie Library Build-
ing at 125 Macomb Place (South-
bound Gratiot at North Avenue)
in downtown Mount Clemens.
Gallery hours are 11 am. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday-through Friday and 9
:a.m. to 2 P.m. Saturdays.
For information, car(810) 469-
8666.

:

DIA Needs
Volunteers

To volunteer at the Detroit In-
stitute of Arts, attend the Vol-
unteer Orientation on Sunday,
Oct. 1, 12:30 p.m. at the Institute.
Approximately 250 additional
volunteers are needed.
For information, call the DIA
Volunteer Services, (313) 833-
0247.

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S EPTEMBER

veloping her style. She spent an-
other 10 years wondering if she
would ever paint again. Yet
through it all, she never let go of
that same spirit that now infuses
her work — quiet determination.
From primary school in New
Jersey, her home state, through
her first years in college, Ms.
Chaleff-Feingold always was
drawing and painting. Looking
back, it now seems like it was a
period when she cultivated her
love for painting.
Pressure to "find a career,"
however, led her away from art
and into the business world,
where she held jobs in marketing
and business communications.
Meanwhile, her brush, paints
and canvases were packed away.
In a society where utility and
practicality outweigh aesthetic
endeavors, Ms. Chaleff-Feingold
was going through the proverbial
transition stages on the way to
the adult-career world. But she
was miserable, she said. And her
frustration just kept getting
worse.
"I'd go to a gallery or museum
and it was so clear to me what I
wanted to do," she said. "I was
denying my spirit."
The "personal turmoil" grew
burdensome. Her first marriage
was breaking up, and she was so
dissatisfied that she moved from
her Boston home and set out to
start over again in Florida.
In 1986, nearly 10 years after
she put away her drawings, she
returned to the challenge of cre-
ating a world while standing be-
fore an empty canvas. Initially,
she said, the images were quite
primitive, but in the next five
years a distinctive style emerged
that focused on geometric shapes
of human faces, patterns and
stark color contrasts restrained
by black lines.
"These are subconscious im-
rages arranged so there's a lot for
the eye to follow," she said.
Yet some of her images seem
to be extricated from a broader
public subconscious. The figure
in one painting has a striking re-
semblance to a lip-curling, thick-
sideburned, Las Vegas-era Elvis,
titled (what else?) Is That Elvis?
In her most recent painting,
Palm Beach Life, less patterning
is evident, and the subjects drift
beyond the border of the paint-
ing. Although Ms. Chaleff-Fein-
gold paints modern faces
embellished with swirls and dis-
jointed geometric shapes in the
Picasso tradition, there's a sub-
tle hint of a classic influence, es-
pecially in the more stoic figures.
"People ask about the mean-
ing of a piece," Ms. Chaleff-Fein-
gold said. "I'd like to think you
can see history as well as the fu-
ture in my work. Some of my fig-
ures have a Romanesque look,
but they're still quite contempo-
rary."
Children and sophisticated art
collectors have been drawn to the

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