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“I don’t want to have someone come in and clean up after me,” she elaborated. “I try to stay as independent as I can. The MS has affected my gait, my walking, my speech.”
Art has always been a part of her life. So much so that she admitted that she’s turned her bedroom into an art studio. Well, an art studio with a bed in it.
In describing her art, Lacaden said she leans towards the realistic and impressionistic.
“Most of what I do is watercolors,” she said, “but I also do oils and acrylics.”
The artist concentrates on portraits, landscapes and florals.
“My favorite is my florals,” she said, “paintings of flowers. I just love flowers, I love to be part of the creation. When I paint, it’s a reflection of what I see.
“I don’t think anyone can duplicate a creation,” she continued. “My goal is to express how I feel about a tree or flower, how I feel about the creation.”
She’s self-taught.
“I tried going to classes,” she said, “but when I carried things, I dropped them. It was overwhelming, so I didn’t go to class.”
She’s been a member of the Portland Fine Arts Guild for the last year or so. She admits that the late night meetings are sometimes difficult to attend.
“It depends on how I’m feeling,” she said, a reflection of her malady, not her temperament. “I have wonderful friends there, and when I can’t go, I miss them.”
Again, because this woman has a good attitude, she tends to put the time later in the day, when her MS can slow her down, to good use.
“Most of the time when I’m down,” Lacaden said, “in the afternoon or evenings, I would paint. It’s always been there for me.”
Lacaden doesn’t make her living with her art.
A hairdresser for over 30 years, she started a business called Beauty on the Go, ultimately selling the business to another woman. For 22 years she also operated a home for people with mental disabilities. She was in the food brokerage business as a sales representative.
Besides her painting, Lacaden executes another art form.
She creates what she called amulet bags, small, knitted and beaded bags. The little bags are approximately 2 1/2 inches by 2 inches. She said they are “commonly used to tuck a memory in,” as in a note, a key, a poem or a scripture. Worn like a necklace, she also creates even smaller ones that can be placed on a belt or bathing suit.
“It’s a textile art,” she said, and she knits the little bags with knitting needles smaller than toothpicks.
“I knit with thread, not yarn,” she said. “The thread is from France and the beads are from all over the world.”
“They hold little treasures,” she said. The amulet bags take between 6 and 12 hours to complete.
“I’ve never been able to make two that are alike,” she said of the bags. “Each one is different and unique, just like my paintings.”
Knitting since she was a child, Lacaden started creating the amulet bags 10 years ago. She’s been painting for the past 20 to 25 years.
Ilena Lacaden is an inspiration.
“I have a rich, full and wonderful life, I have to be honest,” she happily confessed. “I have four children and 14 grandchildren.” She also finds contentment in her home garden.
“I’m one of the most blessed women,” she said, “because I’ve had such a rich life. Every day is a blessing. I enjoy every day of my life.”
But that’s not all there is.
“My very, very, very favorite thing to do is genealogy,” she emphasized. “I help people do research, and I’ve researched my own family background.”
Lacaden said she chose Dixie’s Golden Girls Gifts to display and sell her art “because (owner) Dixie Winter has an integrity about herself and her business,” she said. “That’s important to someone like me, an artist, who wants their work to be in a place where there’s a respect for other people and their work.”
Painting prices range between $40 and $300. Her beadwork is also on display and for sale, and prices range between $35 and $100.
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