Making the canvas speak
Two sisters paint comfort and inspiration
Published On: August 31, 2010
The painting is a study in color, emotions and irony.
Germs have become a deadly enemy for Kimura, who has severe aplastic anemia. The blood disorder prevents the creation of blood cells and in turn tanks her immune system, so her aversion to the oogies may be the reason she’s still standing. Her sister Alex sees the irony clearly. “She has always obsessively washed her hands. That’s probably what kept her from getting sicker than she did. She was already fighting the germs.”
It’s been a tumultuous year, with Kimura’s frightening diagnosis and news that she might need a bone marrow transplant. The sisters saw a need and set up several events for marrow donor testing and fund-raising. Over one weekend in July, Sam and Alex raised $25,000 for the National Marrow Donor Registry Program.
Remarkable, but no surprise: These ladies have passion and vision, and it shows in their paintings.
Both Sam and Alex have created impressive collections using oil paints, mixed media and clay. The sisters are close, but their art reveals different styles. Sam works slowly and meticulously, “Sometimes overworking the piece,” she confesses. When neighbors commissioned her to paint a portrait of their two Boston Terriers, Sam took two weeks to perfect every detail. “I was enjoying it so much I just kept working on it.” The result is a lively painting of two very mischievous-looking pups.
Alex paints quickly, working “outside the lines,” with passion and detail. Her portraits reveal deep emotions in the subjects’ eyes; and her collages radiate her identity and feelings. She’s contemplating a new, larger piece, on a 9-by-8 foot canvas. “Something with lots of texture, movement and color, so you can’t tell if it’s part of the wall or a painting.”
What they share is a sense of joy in each other’s work. “Whenever I look at her paintings, I feel such pride, and it comforts me to think of her,” Alex says.
They have both also been soothed and inspired by their faith, which has helped them weather the difficult year. “I’m working on more ways to pull faith into my paintings,” Sam says.
Their connection between faith and art has helped them create a shared view of the world. “Art used to be about the self, stretching for satisfaction,” Alex says. “Now we create to inspire others,” like a series of bright paintings Sam made for the kids at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, where she received her transfusions.
What Alex and Sam most hope to inspire is action. Donating blood or platelets is “the simplest, easiest way to save a life in your lifetime,” says Alex, noting that platelet transfusions helped keep her sister alive.
With faith, determination, talent and love, Sam and Alex Kimura are working to create inspiration for themselves and for others. And their work, both on canvas and in the community, doesn’t just speak, it calls.
Testing for marrow registry is easy: visit www.marrow.org/JOIN or call Be The Match Foundation at (800) 507-5427. To donate blood or platelets, visit www.givelife.org
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