Esther Ostrovsky was my second cousin once removed — my grandmother’s niece, though they were pretty close in age — and I’m happy to report that she was one of the ones who got out of Ukraine. Esther lived most of her life in and around Boston and died in 1984. One of my family’s only claims to fame was Esther’s son Elliot Silverstein, who directed a couple of Hollywood movies you might have heard of, and a bunch more you almost certainly haven’t, plus 4 episodes of the original Twilight Zone.
I have only two photographs of my old-country ancestors; this painting is based on one of them. Esther looks about 5 or 6 here. With her intense and piercing stare, she bears a haunting resemblance to my older daughter at the same age.
I used Photoshop to calculate the posterized color palette. Yes I’m still on my secondary-color kick: show orange, purple and green some love!