Kabert Lives Life of Whimsy; Surrounds Self With It, Too E “If I like a person’s By June Scharf laine Kabert knows exactly when she became an artist. It was in first grade, when she was creating a piece of scratch art where colored crayons are randomly used to fill an entire page, then covered over with black crayon. The sharp end of a stretched paper clip is then used to scratch out the black with the colored layer underneath offering contrast, allowing the artist’s images to be revealed. Since then, art has filled her life and home, which is set at the corner of Halcyon and Deborah, where she has lived with her family for the past 47 years. “The house is an extension of me,” she says, indicating her creations that fill every nook and cranny. Kabert describes her style as a mash up of folk art and cartooning, something her art teachers in school hated, saying, “They wanted creations to look more like Rembrandt’s.” As a self-taught artist who employs a range of materials – anything from buttons to breakfronts – she sets no boundaries. “I amaze myself with what I can do,” Kabert said with a smile. Her interest in art has a long history of finding commercial outlets all over the east side in stores she owned and operated, beginning 40 years ago with the Artists’ Nook at Cedar Center, a spot she occupied for 21 years. Kabert also had outposts in LaPlace, downtown Chagrin Falls, and a cart at Beachwood Place. She most recently sold her own art and that of local artists at Whimzi, located in The Greens of Lyndhurst. Starting this month, she will operate inside Artistic Attic, 5882 Mayfield Rd., Mayfield Heights. “With these stores, I’ve given artists the opportunities that I always wanted for myself,” she said. And she never calls her stores “galleries.” Instead, she prefers “gift shops.” Kabert extends shelf and wall space to artists of all varieties. “If I like a person’s art, I don’t care if he or she is in kindergarten.” But business these days is tough. “Between competition from the Internet and gift cards, and the fact that people don’t have lots of knickknacks anymore, it’s hard.” In her own art, Kabert favors using recycled objects. She haunts Goodwill stores, house and garage sales, all to buy and decorate found items. “It’s gluing 101.” Her goal is to make unique pieces by “adorning and beautifying them.” She affectionately calls it “upcycling.” There probably isn’t a surface that the 73-year-old hasn’t tried painting or decorating. Whether it’s walls, boxes, picture frames, jewelry, old furniture or canvas, Kabert takes a very whimsical approach. She also likes working in multiple settings – at the store, at her kitchen table or in the middle of her driveway. Often art, I don’t care if he or she is in kindergarten.” people will say to her that they wish they could paint. In response, she’ll whip out a canvas and put them to work, guiding them to create art, possibly something as simple as a flower, with the use of several colors. Kabert and her husband, Norm, raised daughters Heidi Walter and Michelle Sefcik in Beachwood. All these years later, she has no plans to leave this community or to retire. “I can’t do either. This is my passion and Beachwood is my home. My family, home and art are the loves of my life.” February 2015 n Beachwood Buzz 11