THE HEALING POWER OF ART By Anaïs Pellegrini
To visit the magnificent home of Ben and Naomi Bollag is to be surrounded by beauty and art, much of it painted by Naomi in her home studio. Occupying a tall hill overlooking the ocean, the Bollag’s home bursts with colorful artworks and photographs of the couple’s three children and six grandchildren, giving the space a cozy and bohemian feel. The walls showcase an eclectic mix of work — from large Andy Warhol prints to a painted sketch of the famous painting The Storm (La Tempête) from French artist Pierre Auguste Cot — the original hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Naomi’s work is everywhere in the home — lining staircases and hallways as well as taking prominent place in the dining room. With such a voluminous body of work it would seem that Naomi has been painting in her current style for decades, but in fact it was after the twin disasters of the Thomas Fire and Montecito Mudslides that she transformed the deep grief she felt into her current style of painting. When I ask Naomi about how she works, she tells me the art “does itself” — that she chooses the colors and size of canvas first and then time disappears and she finds flow. As she works, she likes to think of where her paintings will hang and how the colors will complement the home, and she is especially drawn to gold and beige. Her work hangs in several Sansum Clinic locations as well as at China Pavilion restaurant in downtown Santa Barbara. Deeply philanthropic, Naomi has donated several works to silent auctions which raised funds for both Laguna Blanca School and Middle School. When asked about painting in our COVID-19 era, Naomi said that initially she was “paralyzed” with fear and uncertainty about the virus, but after two weeks she returned with a force and has been creating fervently since then. Her next show will be at the newly remodeled Jewish Federation, where all works on view will be available for purchase.
46 | SHALOM SANTA BARBARA | 2020–2021
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