CONEY ISLAND

could see it in his work. He
position he held until recent-
"Jessica Seated"
had finally learned patience.
ly. When the group asked
contains a love
He came to hate his old
him to be its head, Rosenthal
letter sent by his
paintings. "They represented
said, "I don't like watercolor
wife Kathlyn
the old me."
or watercolor organizations,
to the artist.
Now he considers he's had
but if you still want me to be
two lives as an artist. In his present
your president ..."
life, "some magic flows through me
The use of aquatint in printmaking,
and comes out on the canvas.
a tonal process that builds layer upon
Creativity is amazing. Only the artist
layer of ink, helped provide Rosenthal
deals with the essence of art."
a natural transition into watercolor.
In fact, Rosenthal sees art as fossils.
For two years I practiced the art of
The pictures we see are no longer
watercolor and started to exhibit," he
alive, he says. It's the act of creation
says.
that is the living part of art. We collect
Then, out of nowhere, the artist was
the remains.
forced into a major change of life.
Besides the evolution of his artwork,
"In 1987 I began experiencing panic
another positive lifestyle change came
attacks. I could produce no artwork. I
from Rosenthal's recovery. It's obvious
lost 35 pounds. Everything that mat-
when he pulls a drinking straw from
tered, didn't; everything that didn't, did."
his shirt pocket. After 40 years, he
Rosenthal admits he's a chronic
quit smoking two years ago. The
hypochondriac and always has been.
straws, cut precisely to cigarette
Even today, his wife Kathlyn asks him
length, have proven an adequate sub-
how his day went and he teases that he
stitute.
only had cancer twice and felt the
Rosenthal is rightfully proud of the
onset of two coronaries.
work he's accomplished as a teacher at
His anxiety disorder was not a jok-
Wayne. He credits the "incredible" art
ing matter, however. It was a chemical
department and the environment.
illness that he treated as such. He
"Wayne is all about what a school
learned the physiology of panic and
should be about. We teach grownups
gradually was able to let the panic
here. It's about continuous learning."
happen and ride it out. "If you can
His students, many of whom are
conquer the fear of the fear, it'll lose
extremely talented, he says, have
its power over you," he says.
included David Small, an award-win-
Rosenthal knew his challenge was to
ning illustrator and book author, and
become wiser or remain a fool. "You
Mark Leithauser, head of design at the
suffer a lot of scars while getting wise,"
National Gallery of Art in
he says, "but you become a much bet-
Washington, D.C.
ter person."
Married 26 years, Stanley and
It took at least a decade. When
Kathlyn Rosenthal met at an art gath-
Rosenthal finally painted again, he was
ering and it was "love at first sight,"
blown away by his first attempt.
according to Stanley. Kathlyn, an Iowa
"Patience was there," he says. He

farm girl, has enjoyed a life spanning
many careers, including stints as a
social worker, truck driver and,
presently, a horticulturist. She's also an
accomplished photographer.
The couple were married during
Rabbi Joseph Guttmann's lunch hour
in his office at the Temple Beth El
construction site in Bloomfield
Township. "Construction workers
were our witnesses," says Rosenthal.
Kathlyn subsequently converted to
Judaism.
"I often talk about Jewishness to my
students," says Rosenthal. "We com-
pare guilts." But he philosophizes that
we live in a multitude of nations and
we must somehow prioritize those
communities. "I live in the art nation,
the nature nation and the Jewish
nation," he says.
Little mementos of Rosenthal's
Jewish upbringing often appear in his
paintings. His grandmother's stained
and tattered gefilte fish recipe peeks
from the corner of one work. Old
photos of his ancestors are seen in
another.
Rosenthal's paintings are about peo-
ple and their authenticity. In separate
works, titled Stripes and Sticks and
Stones, he paints his neighbors Mike
and Chuck. He captures their likeness
and their personality, although the set-
ting may not have as much meaning
as it suggests.
"The paintings look like they mean
more than they do," says Rosenthal. "I
want to create questions."
All of the art is done in Rosenthal's
studio, and everything is done from
life, rather than from a photograph.
He starts with pencil drawings before
he moves to watercolors. "A proof of
my new-found patience," he says.
His subjects are ordinary people
plucked from his everyday existence.
They are his friends, students, neigh-
bors and the people with whom he
connects at the market or corner store.
To gaze at Rosenthal's work is to
view a little snippet of your soul, and
of his. ❑

"Stanley Louis Rosenthal: Recent
Works" will be on exhibit through
Dec. 21 at Paint Creek Center for
the Arts, 407 Pine St., in
Rochester, where the artist will give
a slide presentation tided "How I
Got Here," 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 2. Gallery hours are
9:30-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; 10
a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays. For more
information, call (248) 651-4110.

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