Miriam Hospodar ---- Wisdom, Joy and SO Much Talent!

As I write this, I’m jealous of you. Why? Because you are about to discover Miriam (“Mimi”) Hospodar, not only a truly unique and mind-bendingly talented artist, but even better, one of the kindest and most generous souls you could ever find. Her work is joyful, colorful and visually delightful --- its own complete botanical garden exploding with life and promise. The way she embraces color --- in fact every piece of work is a fascinating study in the smart and limitless uses of color --- and has such control over her subject, will make you think differently about how illustrations can vibrate from the page and tell a complex story all in a very compact space.

So that should be enough, right? That should be the totality of her unique story --- ah, but that’s where you’d be wrong because in addition to these talents, there is so much more to learn and love about her. I’m going to get out of the way of her story and let her tell you all about her remarkable life as artist, author, teacher and student of the world.

Miriam "Mimi" Hospodar, 1999

Mimi, even though we’ve only been working together just over a year or so, I feel as if we’ve known each other a long time.  Perhaps it’s due to our “coming of age” in the sixties and both being children of that amazing time and generation.  You were my northern California counterpart that I’ve just recently met!  Growing up in the Bay Area during those incredible and historic moments must have been inspirational for you, especially as an artist.  I’d love it if you would share your thoughts on those years and how they shaped you.

I was nine years old in 1960 and turned nineteen in 1970, so I came of age during the 1960s. The Civil Rights Movement was at my door; my middle school in Berkeley was the first school in the USA that voluntarily took steps to racially integrate. The Free Speech Movement took place while I was in middle school and the U.C. Berkeley Chancellor’s son was a classmate. In high school, every boy I knew was going to be drafted for the Vietnam War as soon as he turned eighteen. Therefore, involvement with anti-war activities had great urgency and personal importance.

So-called “psychedelic” art was decorating everything in San Francisco from underground newspapers to fabrics and fashions. People awoke San Francisco’s then-crumbling, low-rent Victorian houses by festooning them with exuberant colors and designs. My art was greatly influenced by the marvelous posters for the Fillmore Auditorium, Winterland and Avalon Ballroom. I studied the Art Nouveau artists from whom the poster artists drew inspiration. I copied their lettering styles and embraced their sense of freedom with color and imagery. I was also inspired by the fashion trend of vintage clothing that could be picked up for a song at thrift shops. The beauty of the ubiquitous arts, crafts and fabrics from India especially caught my eye; years later I majored in Indian art history at Oakland University, and received a BFA from California College of the Arts. I also spent two wonderful years studying with a Tibetan thangka painter, Pema Wangyal of Dolpo. All these experiences informed my painting style.

Cacao Deity, 2004

From what you’ve told me, your entire family has always been very artistically inclined from musicians, to writers, to artists, as well as collectors of art. What fields did your parents pursue professionally? Did your family worry about you pursuing a career in the arts, wanting you to find a more traditional profession? Were they concerned about the difficulty associated with choosing a tough field to break into financially?

My father was a mechanical engineer who took up metal sculpture in retirement. My mother, a clinical psychologist, did ceramics and worked in copper. After she retired, she became a prolific painter. They collected folk and primitive art from New Guinea, Africa and Mexico. My brother is a Celtic fiddler and a sea chantey singer. My godfather, with whom I am very close, was a painter who worked with Richard Diebenkorn, David Park and Elmer Bischoff.

My parents wanted me to become an artist. However, I don’t think they considered the professional challenges of such a life too carefully! I actually have had three careers, two of which I received a significant amount of training for. I am a visual artist with a BFA and also a BA in Art History, a certified teacher of the Transcendental Meditation Program and the published author of three books and many magazine articles. However, none of these has proved a lucrative career path. I have frequently had to take “day jobs” to provide the majority of my income.

Mimi, you are probably the hippest, coolest woman I’ve ever met! You have this amazing vibe and vibrancy about you that’s hard to explain. Tell us about your early influences that set you on your incredible and creative path.

Quite simply, I have to create in order to be happy. I think that it is a blessing and a curse that one is born with. Fortunately, I had parents who encouraged me to draw and paint, to write and to pursue other creative projects. The greatest influence on my creative life is my practice of Transcendental Meditation. I learned in 1970 when I had just turned nineteen, and trained to become a teacher of the technique three years later. I have never missed a day. It helps keep me centered and stokes the creative fires. I have never experienced artist’s or writer’s block, and it has helped me access deeper wells of inspiration.


Healing Angel, 2012

Where have you traveled and lived over your life? What were some of the most interesting places and how did you come to be there? Where might you want to return to visit or newly see?

When young, I traveled with my family to Navajo and Hopi reservations, and to the Anasazi archeological sites in Arizona, and many times to Mexico. I was fascinated by the arts and crafts of Oaxaca, and by the sites of the ancient Aztec, Mayan and Toltec civilizations. As an adult, I lived in France and Switzerland for three years, and spent a year each in the Philippines, Taiwan and India with the Transcendental Meditation organization. I returned to India to travel on my own for four months, and have also traveled in Italy. I would love to go to Chicago, New Orleans and Mississippi for the blues music, and to spend a few months in Venice, painting and exploring. It is the most improbable, romantic city I have ever seen.

You’ve also met a lot of fascinating people. Any stories you’d like to share? I especially love the one about you meeting Richie Havens, who sadly, recently passed away.

Richie Havens was a dear friend, whom I met when I was writing a book about the social significance of sixties music. He told me about his wish to give concerts for peace in Israel and Egypt after Anwar Sadat made his historic trip to Israel. Havens was not able to receive permission to visit both countries on one passport. However, for the first time ever, Israel permitted an Egyptian film crew to enter the country and film his Israeli concert. Havens said that his beloved late grandmother had always wanted to visit the Holy Land. When he first set foot on Israeli soil he said aloud, “Well Grandma, we made it!”

Mimi with Richie Havens, 2007

Donovan is a fascinating and serious poet and student of poetry. He created a series of artworks to illustrate the poems of the ancient Greek poet, Sappho. He studied the Beat poets, and once did a low-key concert tour of historic California coffee houses frequented by them.

Bob Weir of The Grateful Dead recounted the countless hours he spent listening to very early rock ‘n roll records, and talked excitedly about the difference between “rock” music and “rock ‘n roll”. His assistant told me that it was the best interview he had ever heard Weir give.

Ellis Amburn, Jack Kerouac’s last editor, expounded on Kerouac’s love of rock ‘n roll and his fondness for Elvis. He encouraged me to visit Kerouac’s grave site. I am not one much for cemeteries, but when I was in Lowell, Massachusetts, I sought out Kerouac’s final resting place. Indeed, it has a powerful vibration. I brought some sand from a California beach that Kerouac wrote about to sprinkle around the grave. Also, like many other writers, I left a pen.

How have you evolved as an artist most recently? What are you currently pursuing and most passionate about? What inspires you?

I think that evolution as an artist simply comes from putting in the hours. When one has long stretches of time in which to create, new and unexpected ideas emerge. I have decided to devote the remainder of my artistic life to creating healing paintings. Some are personal for individuals, and others are more universal. I recently painted a guardian angel for a friend who is recuperating from breast cancer surgery and chemo. I also recently finished a painting to help heal broken hearts. Right now I am working on a celestial “garden of the gods.” The imagery comes from my inner vision, but I will often research what I “see.” For instance, the painting for healing broken hearts features symbols of transformation and renewal, such as butterflies, a phoenix, dragonflies and spring blossoms. I looked at many images of these subjects before creating my own.

Healing for Broken Hearts, 2013

You have been working over many years on an extremely interesting biography. I know you’ve put it on the back burner for now, but can you tell us about the expansive subject matter and how you might change the way you tell these incredible histories and stories?

I worked for about four years on a book about sixties music and how it reflected the values of the time. It takes place mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area. I wove into it a lot of autobiographical material, as I was deeply involved in music from childhood on. From folk music to rock, blues and jazz, the music of the time reflected the politics, art, gender roles, spirituality, health and ecology issues, racial issues etc. that were in upheaval and in which exciting experimentation were occurring. I interviewed a variety of important figures, primarily musicians, but also underground radio personalities, social figures such as Wavy Gravy, artists and writers. My favorite story took place when I was fifteen years old, and Bob Dylan passed out in my lap!

What was most important to me was to tell the story about the significant and lasting changes that were initiated during the time, not just the “sex drugs and rock ‘n roll” stereotype of a bunch of stoned people with impractical ideals. Awareness of ecology and sustainability, organic food, gay rights, women’s rights, civil rights, important artistic movements, spiritual awareness and many other important societal changes and advances had deep roots in the sixties. I used music to show the expression of these values. Unfortunately, the book did not find a home with a publisher, as the general consensus was that there are too many books about the sixties already. One editor asked me, after reading the proposal, “Where are the sex and drugs?”

In addition, I have three published books, including two cookbooks, The Age of Enlightenment Cookbook (Arco, 1981) and Heaven’s Banquet (Plume, 2001) and a book about Italian street painting that I co-authored, Asphalt Renaissance (Sterling, 2011).

"Heavan's Banquet," 2001

Another thing to admire about you is your approach to being charitable. You really believe that charity begins at home with family and friends, with those who are close to our hearts, rather than in donating to the more traditional charitable organizations. How did you come to feel this way? What do you do to express that belief and act on those core values?

Although society generally acknowledges “the arts,” the actual artists are not supported well, even though they are often very well educated, experienced and work extremely hard at what they do. They often subsist on low-paying, part-time jobs without any benefits. They have accrued virtually no retirement income. These worthy people have no safety nets to cover accidents, catastrophic illnesses and unexpected expenses, nor do many of them have health insurance.

I prefer to give money directly to artists in need, rather than funnel it through organizations and foundations. It can be used immediately, I know exactly who the money is going to, and the artists do not have to go through any daunting application process. If I feel that the gift will affect our relationship, I send it anonymously by mailing a certified check (Thank you Lynn and Marilyn for figuring out that maneuver!). Even if the amount of money will not solve a problem 100%, it serves to encourage and uplift the artist. It has been a very fulfilling way of giving, and much appreciated by a valuable segment of society that does not get many breaks.

What are your current challenges as an artist in these economic times, and how do you address and tackle them? What do you see as your next professional steps?

Visual art is an elective expense that fewer people participate in during challenging economic times. I continue to show my paintings in galleries. However, I also sell much less costly giclée prints, fantastically true-to-life computer reproductions done with archival inks on watercolor paper. Lately I have been producing high quality greeting cards of my paintings.

I am currently looking for an artist’s representative, who will do a much better job of marketing than I!

I think a lot of our readers will want to view your work and perhaps be in touch with you. May I give out your website address? And how should they reach out to you?

My website is www.miriamhospodar.com and my email is scribblescribbler@gmail.com I’d love to hear from anyone reading your blog!

Poster for the Santa Barbara Blues Society, 2012