Artists of All Ages Paint Tiles for Garden

Eight-year-old Celine Cohen had the appearance of an artist in the making Sunday.

After drawing a flower bouquet on a porcelain tile, Celine took painstaking care as she delicately applied pastel paints to her artwork.

Celine’s great-grandmother, Ella Goldberg, 83, showed a similar artistic flair as she painted a colorful butterfly on her tile.

“She certainly didn’t get her artistic talents from me,” said Nancy Cohen, 60, Celine’s grandmother, who appeared content to watch her mother and granddaughter put the finishing touches on their tiles.

The artists were among 300 people representing four generations who took part in the Jewish Home for the Aging’s first garden tile painting party, sponsored by the Los Angeles Sephardic Home for the Aging.

The decorative tiles will be mounted on the walls and benches at the home’s new Children’s Garden, scheduled for completion within several months, said Sam Tobey, co-president of the Sephardic Home, a support group for the Jewish Home for the Aging.

“The Children’s Garden will basically be an area in front of the home which will serve as a bridge between the generations,” Tobey said. “This is a project for people of all ages.”

The youngest artist was 3-month-old Rachel Nusbaum, whose tile was decorated with a multihued handprint.

At the other end of the generational spectrum were Morris and Eleanor Mizrahi, ages 93 and 89 respectively, who recently celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary.

Although the garden will be completed in a few months, Tobey said it will take three to five years to completely fill the area, which will accommodate about 10,000 tiles.

“We will hold painting parties about every three months in order to complete the project,” said Tobey, who estimated that 300 to 400 tiles were painted Sunday. “It will be an ongoing project for many years.”