At 91, artist still enjoys work
BY BARBARA MCLEAN The Riverside (Calif.) Press- Enterprise

Photo courtesy of Riverside (Calif.) Press Enterprise Florence Unkeless, 91, uses chalk pastels, which leave her fingers a shade of blue, as she works on a painting of Yosemite Falls at the Murrieta Community Center July 12.

MURRIETA, Calif. -- Florence Unkeless spends a lot of time on her computer creating greeting cards from her artwork in the popular graphics program Adobe Photoshop.

At 91, the energetic artist sells her work to friends and neighbors, continuing with the craft she loves.

Unkeless was born in 1916 on Long Island, N.Y., and since she was 8 knew she had to be an artist.

"When I was a kid I would copy from the newspaper or draw vaudeville characters," she said. Unkeless took art classes in high school and graduated from Parsons in New York, which specializes in fashion design, interior design, graphics and advertising.

She began a career in fashion illustration for newspaper advertising and catalogs. Bullocks, J.C. Penney and Montgomery Ward are among several companies for which she has worked.

In 1941, she married her husband, George, and they moved to Little Rock, Ark., where he was stationed in the Army. After the birth of their second son, she planned to take a break from her art but changed her mind after a visit from a former teacher.

"He told me to keep going because if I stopped it would be harder to start again," she said.

During this time she worked for an engraving company and designed books. She also worked for a furrier.

"They would send her fur coats to draw," George Unkeless said.

His wife retired in the mid- 1960s and began expressing herself through her art. She delved into etching but has left this behind and moved on to drawing children and figures. She now embraces landscapes.

Each week, George Unkeless drives her from their Murrieta home to the Community Center, where about 13 other senior artists enjoy getting together to chat and create. The group has met since 1992.

Juanita Koger owns many pieces of Unkeless' art. She purchased some; others were gifts. The two have been friends for 17 years.

"Florence has the ability to show motion, whether it is a dancer or ocean waves," Koger said. "You can feel the movement."

Florence Unkeless has seen many changes in the world of art since she began. Her area of expertise diminished with the onset of photographs in newspaper and magazine advertisements. "Drawing for fashion is now a lost art," she said.

After World War II, she saw the onset of impressionism and abstract art. She fondly remembers the art of Thomas Hart Benton in the 1930s.

"The murals he created for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) were wonderful," she said.

Reach Barbara McLean at bmclean(at)PE.com. For more stories visit scrippsnews.com