Accomplish what I was afraid to do

Feedback from Lily Rayback

I am a mother of 5 and grandmother of 10. I am 58 years old.

As a younger woman of 23 my husband and I were stationed in Germany with the Air Force. I had three young children and really wanted something to do for myself. A friend had taken classes from Mr. Hertzfeld and encouraged me to try it out. I thought about it and decided it would be what I needed.

I didn’t understand then what a treasure I had stumbled upon. Since those days I often have wished for a different ending to my art experience. Mr. Hertzfeld encouraged me to stay when it was time to deploy back to America, at the end of our tour of duty. He was very disappointed that I felt I needed to leave. He offered to help me find a way to stay, even with three young children and a husband. He thought that I had great promise and I should continue to study with him. As a side note, he didn’t know I intended to leave my husband, that would not have been an issue. I guess I was afraid to be on my own in a foreign country. I knew in my heart that I could have stayed.

Mr. Hertzfeld taught the Old Master methods of art. I knew I would not find an teacher in America that had his understanding for this method. This was in 1981, many years passed and many chapters of life have closed. I raised my children as a single mom. I am now alone with time to open this chapter once again.

I stumbled upon the Web Art Academy course one day while on the computer. I was so impressed with the beauty of the art work and the instruction that I enrolled in the painting class. I would love to study all that is offered and accomplish what I was afraid to do years ago. To create beauty and share with others a method that has been ignored and forgotten.

Thoughtfully, Lily