Louise Gordon: The art of getting better with age
A talented artist even in her youth, Rehoboth Beach resident Louise M. Gordon said she was drawn to art her whole life, but circumstances prevented her from pursuing her interest until she reached her 50s.
Born in 1918, Gordon won a scholarship to Drake University in the 1930s, but between the Great Depression and her proper Victorian parents' resistance to the bohemian lifestyle of an artist, she went with the more ladylike option of business school.
"I had to accept it," Gordon said. "In those days, you did what your parents wanted you to do."
These days, the 94-year-old does what she wants to do, and for the Cape Henlopen Senior Center member, that means she attends art group each Tuesday and works in watercolor, oils and even sculpture.
Leslie Boehlert, executive director of the Cape Henlopen Senior Center, said Gordon has become a well-known and well-loved member of the community at the senior center.
"She's one of our long-standing members," Boehlert said. "She comes in every Tuesday for our art group."
Her son, Bill Gordon, said his mother transitioned her career from accountant to artist when she was 50 and began taking classes.
The first piece she completed won awards, and she has since collected "stacks of ribbons," Bill said, noting his mother became immersed in the art scene in her former hometown of Chestertown, Md., before she moved to Rehoboth five years ago.
Since then, she still accepts commissions and has a variety of watercolors currently up for sale.
The senior center offers art but also gives seniors opportunities to try yoga, jazzercise, tai chi, bingo, bowling and woodcarving, filling the days with meaningful activity and fellowship for members.
"I've met some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life here," Gordon said, not to mention befriending a younger woman who turned out, in a strange twist of fate, to be her ex-boyfriend's niece,
Art group is a proven social activity, but Gordon's son, Bill, said he noticed the activity also helps her with physical issues such as shaky hands.
"She has tremors but you put a paintbrush in her hand and she evens right out," he said. "She's not your typical 94-year-old."
For more information on the Cape Henlopen Senior Center or to purchase one of Gordon's paintings or find out more about group activities, contact the center at 302-227-2055 or go to www.capehenlopenseniorcenter.org.
