By Sam McDonald

Standing at a rare milestone, Norfolk artist Lorraine Fink looks back on a life of soaring creativity and unbridled imagination.

Painting, sculpting, drawing, building, teaching — she’s done it all in her 100 years.

Remarkably, she still does.

“I have the heart of a teacher, but also a heart of a do-er,” Fink said, speaking over the phone a few weeks before her centennial birthday. “I can’t go a day without drawing.”

To honor her life and achievements, 91ÖĆƬł§ will host an exhibition titled “Lorraine Fink: Won! Oh! Oh! Recent Works” Aug. 15 to Sept. 30 at the Barry Arts Building Rotunda. A public reception will take place 6 p.m. Sept. 12.

Through the decades, Fink’s creative spirit has inspired many.

She’s won honors from the Chrysler Museum, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Virginia Watercolor Society, Hermitage Museum, Smithsonian Institution, William & Mary and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art. Her art has been acclaimed locally and nationally in juried exhibitions. She’s presented her work in more than 50 one-woman shows and been featured nationally on PBS through WHRO-TV’s “Curate.” 

Photo of a painting.
Lorraine Fink’s art will be exhibited Aug. 15 to Sept. 30 at the Barry Arts Building Rotunda in an exhibition titled “Lorraine Fink: Won! Oh! Oh! Recent Works.” Image: Courtesy of the artist.

She declined to cite a particular creation as her masterpiece.

“It’s the accumulation of work that I’m the most proud of,” Fink said. “And I’m really proud when I see some of my influence on youngsters.”

Fink taught art at Old Dominion as well as at Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art, Chrysler Museum and the Peninsula Fine Arts Center. She’s gratified that some of her printing and watercolor techniques have spread to generations that followed her.

As a focused and prolific artist, Fink was a late bloomer. In her 40s – once her five children were old enough – she casually signed up for an art class at Old Dominion with friends.

It changed her life.

For the next 15 years she took class after class – eventually earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1978 at age 53. She followed that with her MFA five years later.

“Once I started 91ÖĆƬł§, I just stuck with it and loved it,” Fink said. “People were so kind to me. They told me I was an artist … I really feel like 91ÖĆƬł§ was my home.”

At Old Dominion, Fink studied painting with Charles Sibley, printmaking with Ken Daley and sculpture with Rick Nickel. Travels with her late husband – pediatrician Dr. H. William Fink – to faraway places in Africa and the South Pacific fueled her artistic imagination.

“It just increased my desire to learn more and know more,” she said.

To share that love of learning, she and her husband established the Lorraine and Dr. H. William Fink Art Scholarship Fund at Old Dominion in honor of Ken Daley. Nineteen students have already benefitted from the scholarship.

These days, Fink cherishes family, friends and her unconquerable drive to create. “Every day I wake up, I’m happy to be here,” she said.

At a pre-birthday celebration held at Old Dominion’s Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, Fink’s grandchildren talked about what made the woman they lovingly refer to as Gaga so special.

“She’s done a lot of good for this community,” said 24-year-old Yuli Burstein, who traveled from his home in Boston to celebrate his grandmother’s big day. Growing up, he often spent holidays in Norfolk with his grandparents. “I remember her teaching me to paint when I was around 5 years old. It was really awesome,” he said. 

A group of women pose for a photo in the Gordon Art Galleries.
Three of Lorraine Fink’s nine grandchildren pose for a photo during a recent birthday celebration for Fink’s 100th birthday. The matching temporary tattoos say “Gaga,” a nickname for their grandmother. Pictured, left to right, are Kathryn Fink, Erica Fink, Lorraine Fink, and Ashley Fink. Image credit: Chuck Thomas/91ÖĆƬł§

Another grandson, Simon Fink, works as a filmmaker in Los Angeles. “We’ve all gotten something from her,” Fink said. “It’s truly hard not to be an artist with her as a grandmother.” He attended the birthday bash wearing white jeans splashed with the same colors found in Lorraine Fink’s art.

Just before the party, the grandchildren helped Lorraine Fink decorate a tablecloth in her distinctively vibrant style. “We were at Gaga’s house, and she was instructing us like it was an art class,” he said, smiling.

What’s Lorraine Fink’s secret to a long and happy life?

At the Gordon Galleries, her children offered theories: A loving family. A playful sense of humor. And, of course, creative expression.

“The team of 91ÖĆƬł§ and Lorraine Fink has been truly phenomenal,” daughter Joni Burstein said during the event at the Gordon Galleries. One of the galleries was filled with her creations – ornaments dangling from the ceiling, abstract sculptures, scores of paintings and drawings, and colorful, hand-painted tablecloths. “This team has been just the most loving and wonderful partners for her. The installation they created is beyond incredible,” Burstein said.

Many of those same works from the party will be on display in the “Won! Oh! Oh! Recent Works” exhibition.

Women and birds – sometimes one morphing into the other – are recurring themes in Fink’s art.

“I think a lot of people dream of flying,” she said during the telephone interview. She described one of her own recent dreams. In it, she glided effortlessly above a parked automobile.

At home, Fink often watches birds from a big picture window. It’s one of her favorite places to draw.

“I like the images of women and birds because I think women need to be free,” Fink said. “They need to do their own flying.”