Hi Elizabeth,

We are very pleased with ‘ Enchanted Garden’, witch Marja has send to us as a special gift from her. It arrived a couple off weeks ago. We placed the Enchanted Garden near our dinner table in the living. So, everyday we can enjoy when we have dinner. Through that we are some closer to our daughter Marja, she did make a really nice choice. Also it brings Marja closer to art, and that is a good thought. We think this is a wonderful peace off art. We wish you lots of success and inspiration to go on make people happy with your artworks.

Kind regards from Marja’s parents,
Pieter Bennenbroek Mariet Bennenbroek Gielen,

Hello Elizabeth,

It was great to meet you last night and as I promised, I would share my thoughts on your art with you. My first reaction upon encountering your ornately decorated door today was immediate dismissal of it.

My first impression over no more than a second or two, recalled glitter-soaked, kitschy folk-art holding no appeal for me on those previous occasions I encountered them. I walked past it without a second thought, or shred of residual curiosity to see more.

However, because of its prominent, in-your-way placement within the gallery, I was forced to confront this work again later, and this time, something about it drew me in for a closer look. I am happy to say that my freshly stimulated curiosity was richly rewarded.

Upon my second viewing, it was obvious that whoever created this piece invested an extraordinary amount of time and creative energy in its making, and perhaps that alone justified a moment or two of my time, to see why. It wasn’t long before I realized I had been studying the door for many long minutes and at that point, I couldn’t pull my eyes from it. Wow – I remember remarking – there are myriad powerful things bursting forth from this work in the form of wisdom, struggle, triumph, acceptance, lasting personal vision, and discovery along an active and varied life path. I remember thinking: “whoever created this door has lived a life rich with wonder, pain, triumph, loss, separation, connection, insight, you-name-it – and they are demonstrating tremendous personal courage to share these things with complete strangers like me.” How fortunate, I realized, was I, to encounter and enjoy all of these precious, normally-secretive, “life jewels”, within a mere few minutes of seeing this work for the second, yet really the first, time.

Your work may have taken weeks or more to make, considering the extraordinary attention you have given to its details. However, it demonstrates that the sum-total of wisdom and experience from your entire life has been distilled and carefully placed into and upon this piece.

Despite my first impression of your “door”, I am happy to say – it was wrong. This work is unique: a stunning, profoundly rich, masterpiece – the work of a lifetime – literally. It stands in monumental testimony to a life filled with all the wonder, wisdom, pain, triumph and love one can have, and share. It represents art at its most powerful best, in my humble view.

Your other works proved no less rewarding to take in. As a sometimes-jaded seasoned art-viewer, I am happy to report that it was a thrill to see such sincere, powerful, original work. I commend your personal courage and talents and wish you well in your career. Our world becomes a greater place when measured by works as these.

I am honored and humbled to have experienced your art. It moved me, and that is a great thing for art to accomplish for anyone fortunate enough to view it.

With admiration and respect,
Alexander Calder,
Curator The Fine Art Center for East Africa, San Francisco