Beauty Brought From Brooklyn
By Jill Duff-Hoppes
JLife is continuing a series we started in the summer of 2022, one that highlights Jewish artists in Central Florida. The work of these talented creatives can be seen throughout our community in galleries and museums and at outdoor art shows and other events.
In this issue, we’d like to introduce you to a couple of female artists who have a few things in common.
Both hail from Brooklyn, New York, both have immersed themselves in art after retiring from careers in other fields, and both have recently enjoyed solo exhibits of their work. One of the women prefers to paint with acrylics, while the other specializes in mixed-media drawings. Both also have a flair for using color to great effect in their work.
Head of the (Art) Class
Sometimes Michele Niemi can’t believe her eyes when she sees her own artwork at local galleries.
“Whenever my art is hanging up in public places, I feel like, “Is it really me who did that?” says Michele with an air of incredulity.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Michele grew up visiting NYC’s art museums and other cultural institutions. She always loved to draw and imagined becoming a famous artist, herself, one day.
Michele initially studied art at the State University of New York at Cortland but switched to an education major after she felt called to teach children with learning disabilities.
Midway through college, Michele moved with her parents to the Sunshine State eventually earning a bachelor’s degree in education at the University of South Florida and a master’s degree as a reading specialist from the University of Central Florida. Although Michele continued with art as a hobby, she spent the next four decades teaching in public and private schools. Her career included six years as a general education teacher at Jewish Academy of Orlando (formerly the Hebrew Day School). Most recently, she taught reading, English, and yoga at Pace Brantley Preparatory, a school for students with learning differences.
Artist Michele Niemi with one of her paintings.
After retiring from Pace Brantley in January of 2021, Michele threw herself back into art. She soon joined P.O.W. Artists, a small group of Central Florida creatives who are active on the local art scene.
“I really like the message that they have about art being healing – because art definitely heals me,” says Michele, a colorist who works primarily in acrylics. “We believe in giving back to the community and that art is a spiritual aspect of each one of us.”
Michele enjoys painting abstracts as well as figurative pieces, all in bright hues, and her subject matter includes Jewish themes, nature scenes, musical instruments, and women-centric images.
“I’m an everything artist,” says Michele, who has studied at Crealdé School of Art in Winter Park. “I am so diverse in what attracts me. A lot of my art is very imaginative.”
Men at the Wall, a painting by Michele Niemi.
Michele and her husband, Tim, live in Fern Park and have two sons. One is a professor of engineering at the University of Florida, and the other is a cantor in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to making art, Michele volunteers as a job coach with Shalom Orlando’s RAISE (Recognizing Abilities & Inclusion of Special Employees) program.
Until she joined P.O.W. Artists, Michele wasn’t accustomed to sharing her art with the world. These days, she is a proud exhibitor in group shows at venues in Casselberry, Lake Mary, and DeBary. Michele’s work has also been showcased in two solo art exhibitions, the most recent of which was in October in celebration of her 65th birthday. The exhibit was at JamArt, a gallery and frame shop in Casselberry owned by P.O.W. Artists founder Kenneth Harris.
“It was magical seeing my artwork up there and telling my story,” says Michele. “Pure magic.”
If I don’t do art now, when?”
Artist Renee Schwadron Lewis is a firm believer in the it’s never too late philosophy.
Artist Renee Schwadron Lewis in her home studio. Three of Renee’s drawings have been printed on stylish scarves such as the one she is modeling here.
Another native of Brooklyn, Renee’s specialty is drawing with mixed media. Her favorite subject in school was always art, and Renee fondly remembers the paint-by-numbers kits that she and her older sister were given by their mother.
“My sister always took all the nice colors, and she always gave me the dark browns,” Renee says with a laugh.
Renee went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in fabric design from Syracuse University in New York. And although she loved the subject matter, Renee set aside her career aspirations to get married and start a family. In 1983, after a divorce, she and her two young children moved from New England to Winter Park to start anew and be closer to her parents in South Florida.
Renee settled into a career in the corporate world, which included a 12-year stint at the American Automobile Association (AAA). There was no time to be artistic because Renee’s primary focus was on making sure her kids went to college and got good jobs. All turned out well there: Renee’s son is now a pilot living in Atlanta, Georgia, and her daughter resides in DeLand and works for the Alzheimer’s Association.
Yet as the years passed, Renee still gravitated toward art. Whenever she attended cultural events like art festivals in Winter Park, she felt a strong pull to be more than a spectator. Renee credits her decision to finally jump back into the art world to her late father, Simon.
As a young man, Simon was a talented musician who played the piano, clarinet, and saxophone. However, his immigrant mother discouraged him from pursuing music as a career, and he didn’t want to go against her wishes. Simon lived to be 93 years old and always wondered what might have been.
“Almost to his last day, he would say, ‘Why did I let the music go?’” recalls Renee.
Simon passed away in 2012, and around the same time, Renee retired from the corporate world. With her son and daughter on their own, Renee found herself with plenty of time to get back to being creative.
“I just had a real heart-to-heart with myself,” says Renee. “I thought, ‘If I don’t do art now, when?’”
To create her drawings, she works on black mat board or paper and uses colored pencils, oil crayons, metallic markers, and pastels. Renee’s fabric design training is evident in her work with repetitive patterns being a common theme. Her Post-Impressionist drawings have won many awards, and Renee’s favorite subjects are still-life images and women depicted in bold colors.
“I think women are interesting to draw,” she says. “Personally, I guess because of the journey I’ve taken, I believe that women sustain the universe.”
Renee is a member of several organizations including Beaux Arts of Central Florida, the Florida Artists Group, and the Art League of Daytona Beach. And recently, the Alper JCC Miami featured a solo exhibition of her artwork.
Renee’s story is an example of holding on to a dream.
“When I started drawing again, it felt so good,” she says. “I felt like I was honoring my dad. And once a piece is finished, I can feel immediately that I have to have people see it. That’s the art cycle making a full circle.”
To learn more, visit ReneeSchwadronLewis.com.
This story was originally published in print in Winter 2023.