At an age when many have long put down the brush, 90-year-old Doris Gilden is still pursuing her lifelong passion for art.
Her specialty: one-of-a-kind 3D pieces, from Judaica to vases and plates.
“My pieces are never exactly alike,” she said. Her current display at the senior living community The Arbor at Lake Worth, where she also lives, features her expansive collection, including ceramics and glass fusion.
Gilden found a way to intertwine art into every aspect of her life. “I used to draw on tablecloths,” she said. “I always wanted to do art.”
After graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan, she got a job designing children’s wear. This led her to other aspects of design, from interior design to women’s handbags (she designed fine leather bags under the name Eccentrix).
She moved to South Florida in 1991, and it was here that she learned how to do ceramics.
“I would get pieces out of the molds and carve them and add lace and fire them off in the kiln,” she said. “I learned to do different techniques and was always trying to make something different.”
Now, Gilden says ceramics are her favorite art form. She likes to focus on women’s faces and creates texture using foil, lace and rhinestones. She also incorporates methods like decoupage, cutting up magazines and placing the pieces together.
“You can see yourself or your loved ones in so many of the faces,” said Samantha Clark, engagement director at The Arbor at Lake Worth. “The community is purchasing a piece to put on display forever — it spoke to me.”
Gilden’s original inspiration for many of her current pieces came from her travels with her second husband, Marvin Liberson, whom she married in 2008. While visiting Spain, she was intrigued by posters of women, so she bought them and came back to Florida to create — something Liberson encouraged.
“He always supports me with all the work I am doing,” said Gilden. “When we moved in together, we made the second bedroom a place to display my art.”
Gilden eventually left her job — she was working at Barbara Katz, a boutique in Boca Raton — to travel. But art ended up becoming a full-time gig for her, and for Liberson.
“I call him ‘the schlepper,’ said Gilden. “It’s not easy to travel with this stuff. It’s heavy and there’s bubble wrap. He’s the one bringing my artwork everywhere.”
Gilden said she has showcased her art at various galleries throughout South Florida, including Gemini Art Gallery in Delray Beach and Artisans on the Ave in Lake Worth (both now closed) and at Art Palm Beach, the international show in West Palm Beach. She also recently had pieces up for sale at David Barry Jewelers in Boynton Beach.
Her Jewish faith inspires her to create unique Judaica. She has designed Sabbath platters, menorahs, and a special bowl for an Orthodox wedding.
Her biggest sellers, though, are mezuzahs. “We do have a large Jewish clientele [at The Arbor] and they all love the mezuzahs,” said Gilden. “You know, a lot of them have their homes furnished, but they still need a mezuzah for their door.”
Each piece usually takes weeks to create. “I keep working on it until I get the results I like,” she said. “It’s a process.”
But it’s a process she thoroughly enjoys. “It’s so relaxing for me; instead of being in a card game, I would rather draw something and paint it and get to the finished product. I just enjoy doing it. It’s my therapy in a way,” she said.
Pieces range in price, with mezuzahs costing about $35 and some bigger art deco pieces selling for upwards of $3,500. But, she said, on average they sell for $250 to $550.
And while she has sold many of her pieces during her artistic career, she is thrilled to be showcasing her work for her fellow residents at The Arbor.
“It’s very exciting. I’ve met so many people who have stopped and asked if I am the artist,” she said. “People signed a book with comments and I will have the memories from that.”
The display will be at The Arbor through the end of November, but Gilden isn’t stopping there. She continues to take art classes, learning new methods and making them her own.
“I always had a feeling that this was what I wanted to do my whole life,” she said. “I’m 90 years old now and I’m still doing it, and I think it’s what keeps me going.”
To learn more about Gilden’s work, visit dorisgilden.com.
