Chai Style Art: Color is Kalmin’s Language

She comes from South Africa, but her vision belongs everywhere. Artist Jenny Kalmin, a librarian by training, segued into painting, which transformed over time into polychromatic, multicultural scenes that look at the world with fresh eyes, noticing quiet details.

Over the decades, she has been willing to put in the work. As musician Paul Simon said, “You can’t be really good at anything until you put in the first 10,000 hours.”

Cheerful, yet graphic, with nothing fitting into a pattern, Kalmin has exceeded her 10,000 hours and stated, “I’ve had so many different periods of life, I’ve refined my design process. My most enduring subjects have been the natural world and exploring the infinitesimal subtleties of color, texture, and light. One of the most complicated has been my relationship with light on canvas. Light is clarity, immersive, telling.”

Her Sandy Springs home, along with husband, retired clinical pathologist, Norman, is a touchstone of her own work, plus other South African-centric artists. Here, worlds interface with a lack of pretension and Kalmin’s own fertile imagination.

Take the tour …

Jaffe: One of your award-winning paintings was a common scene of someone slurping ice cream, then another of the intensity of someone taking an exam. How do these ideas come to you?
Kalmin: Sometimes subjects “present” themselves on the street or at home like fruit in a bowl from a bird’s eye view — a couple sitting on a bench in downtown St. Augustine, the end of a test with one person remaining, portraits of my family, scenes from places we’ve visited, a group of women having lunch in a parking lot during COVID, a diner in Cody, S.D. Any image which engages me at that moment in time.

Jaffe: Share your coming from South Africa story.
Kalmin: I was born in Port Elizabeth, a major seaport along the southeastern coast. With our two children, we emigrated in 1976. Our first stop was Buffalo, N.Y., where my husband completed his residency. I loved drawing and painting as a child; but a career in art was not considered practical, so I completed a degree in library science at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. After graduating, I worked for the Johannesburg Public Library.
After three years in Buffalo, we headed south to Atlanta’s warmer climes, where my husband completed a fellowship in blood banking. In 1983, we headed southwest to San Antonio, Texas, where Norman headed up the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center and Qualtex Laboratory. While in San Antonio, I worked for the public library. I was then asked to computerize and set up the library at the then-Jewish day school. Then I began taking classes in graphic design, ultimately earning a degree in Advertising Art.

Jaffe: Your career bloomed in San Antonio?
Kalmin: After obtaining my degree, I volunteered to do pro bono work for many Jewish organizations, designing flyers, invitations, programs, logos. I also began painting on a regular basis and rented studio space with three other artists. An established San Antonio gallery, Galleria Ortiz, accepted my work, which was a great encouragement for me to continue as an artist. In 2010, we returned to Atlanta. No longer working, I was able to devote more time to art. I set up a studio in a light-filled room in my basement where I could indulge my passion. While I first began painting in oil, I now work primarily in acrylics.

Jaffe: How does an artist like you frame “passion”?
Kalmin: And it is a “passion.” When I work on a painting, time stands still; it’s hard to tear myself away. When working on a piece, I’ll lie awake in bed at night and think of something that didn’t feel right and go down to my studio at all hours to work on it. These times are most productive – no phone rings, no calls on my time, quiet except for soft classical music. Being a docent at the High Museum of Art has been an inspiring and learning experience. I’m a member of the Dunwoody Fine Art Association (DFAA) which is dedicated to promoting the artistic growth of its members and fostering community engagement in the fine arts. We meet at the North Shallowford Annex, and anyone is welcome to join. Presently, my work is on view at the Dunwoody Gallery, the Dunwoody Library, The Marriott Perimeter Center, Chupito’s Azteca Grill, and the Dunwoody Annex. I have received a number of awards at the Roswell Fine Arts Alliance, “People, Things and Thingamabobs,” and DFAA exhibitions, “Sights and Insights,” and their Best of the Best Show. Three of my pieces have been accepted into this year’s, “Sights and Insights,” juried show at the Abernathy Arts Center Jan. 31 to March 13.

Jaffe: Describe the South Africam-influenced themed art at your house.
Kalmin: We brought artwork by a number of South African artists when came to the U.S.: Ben Macala, David Mbele, Godfrey Ndabe, Hargreaves Ntukwana. Also gracing our walls are a number of paintings by my late brother-in-law, Richard Kalmin, an architect in Toronto and also a sought after watercolor artist. We also have a number of soapstone sculptures from Zimbabwean artists. While living in San Antonio, I bought a number of local pieces, including some by Danville Chadbourne, whose work evokes a spiritual and primal state, Henry Rayburn’s collages, and two pieces of Pam Ameduri’s assemblages.

Jaffe: What is it about Jenny’s work that you like?
Dr. Kalmin: Her works contribute to the enjoyment of our home. Her “Flowers 1,2,3” tryptic is immersive, yet done with simple gestures. The giant painting at the top of the stairs was one of her first pieces and still stands the test of time and emotion. You just can’t miss her colors, a characteristic of most of Jenny’s paintings.