Karolina "Lola" Danek was born in 1913 in Jaroslaw,
Poland. She came to the United States in 1950 with her sons
and husband. They had survived World War II and at its end
had been living in a displaced persons camp in Germany. She
took on the challenge of trying to acquire fame and fortune.
Settling in Massachusetts, she worked in the Brown Shoe
factory and unsatisfied with being just a worker there, sold
jewelry from Mr. Bielawski's jewelry store to her coworkers
on the side. Later she bought the jewelry business. When her
son's rock and roll band piqued her interest, she opened a
rock and roll club for teenagers. After that she converted
the rock and roll business into a pool hall. None of these
endeavors, however,were as satisfying or successful as the
art she created. Nearing retirement, she took up oil
painting with zeal, applying the same energy to it as she
had applied to all the other things she'd ever done in her
life. After a number of years of doing straight oil work,
she incorporated the application of jewelry to it. Her
"jeweled art" soon transformed her into a successful folk
artist. In order to devote herself more completely to her
art, she moved to Maine where she bought a house, largely to
be used as a living museum to her art. Her work was included
in the exhibition "Stories to Tell: The Narrative Impulse in
Contemporary New England". They are also in the permanent
collection of the New York State Historical Association. Her
story has been recorded in a chapter of a book about Folk
Art by Dan Prince "Passing in the Outsider Lane". Before her
death in 1997 she had finally achieved the fame and to a
much lesser extent, the fortune she always wanted.
FANTASIA SERIES PENCIL
SKETCHES
Animals 6 x 9 on poster board $150 Atlas 5 x 6 on poster board $50 Santa and Baby 4 x 5 on poster board $50 Boy on Bike 4 x 5 on poster board $50 SOLD Boy in Winter 6 x 9 on poster board $100 5 Ruby Necklace 5 x 5 on poster board $75 Bull 4 x 5 on poster board $50 Cross Eyed Drunk 6 x 8 on canvas panel $175 Not Dancing 6 x 8 on canvas panel $175 Lady with Fan 5 x 6 on poster board $75 Behind the Fence 5 x 6 on poster board $100 My Flower Child 6 x 9 on poster board $125 Folk Dancers 6 x 9 framed $100 on poster board Woman in Fur 4 x 5 on poster board $50 Gentleman 4 x 5 on poster board $50 Flower Girl 4 x 6 on poster board $50 Woman and Alien Lover 6 x 8 on canvas panel, framed $200 Wisdom Seeker 6 x 8 on canvas board, framed $200 Happy Family 6 x 9 on canvas panel $175 SOLD Sophisticated Lady 5 x 8 on poster board $100 Lrobrome 5 x 6 on poster board $100 Teacher 4 x 6 on poster board $50 Monk 7 x 10 on poster board $175 Man with Mustache 5 x 8 on poster board $100 Santa with Monkey Boy 5 x 7 on poster board $75
