One of the highlights of the Santa Monica International Film Festival was a screening of the documentary - Who does she think she is? - directed by talented filmmaker Pamela Tanner Boll.
In this foray into the realm of women - and the pursuit of their other-worldly dreams - Ms. Tanner Boll has managed to capture the spirit of five bold women who are achieving success in their artistic endeavours in spite of the challenging odds.
Women have been told they have to choose career or mothering.
Why can't they do both?
In her documentary, her camera trails her subjects, as they face their daily demons and strive for a balance between the two aspects of split personas.
Early on - as a young woman - Boll fiercely pursued her own artistic goals courageously, but gave up the creative dream briefly.
"I wanted to find 'the guy'," she stated matter-of-fact to a rapt audience who warmed to her project when it screened this past weekend at the Martin Luther King Theatre.
Toll worried about ending up alone, like a celebrated few.
"I didn't want to be single. Or, end up committing suicide."
Down the line - the articulate intelligent director - found her own "soul mate", fortunately.
But, that was not the case with a couple of the women she focused her insightful lens on.
One artist faced an impasse in her marriage when she refused to give up her goal of succeeding as an artist.
In a spirited conversation one day her husband lamented.
"I want a wife."
"I want a wife, too," she responded without hesitation.
Understandably, the two parted ways.
Janice Wunderlich, a sculptor featured in the project, was one of the lucky ones.
Her husband and children support her creative endeavors wholeheartedly. And, the family takes delight in the fact her novel sculptures are being snapped up by collectors around the country at major art exhibitions.
Besides the issue of a home life, and mothering, the filmmaker also takes a gander at the challenges female artists face landing access into the hallowed halls of the great art institutions around the U.S. and elsewhere.
It's not only difficult to make a living, one talented artist confessed, but tough to gain respect in the gallery scene.
The percentages are staggering.
Without exception, major art galleries and government-funded museums, tend to lean towards the exhibition and purchase of major works by leading male artists.
Yes, female painters, sculptors, sketch artists - what-have-you - constantly struggle for recognition among their peers.
Through my own experience as an artist, I have been galled by the fact that many dealers looked upon the renderings of my female artist friends as mere "arts and crafts", "Sunday painting", or not-to-be-taken seriously.
One fan of the documentary put it quite succinctly.
"Who Does She Think She Is? tells the story of ordinary women who pursue their calling - at a price - but for whom art has the power to transform their lives, and perhaps ours, into a deeper experience of living."
The film was produced by Mystic Artists in collaboration with the Wellesley Centers for Women and is available online in a DVD format at Pamela Tanner Boll's website.
Info: http://www.whodoesshethinksheis.net
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