Sakel’s art
on display
at library
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
Rose Balsamides Sakel of East Brunswick talks about her works, including Three Sailboats, an oil painting on display at the township’s library. Glorious Flora (at right) is another oil painting being exhibited. PHOTOS BY JERRY WOLKOWITZ
EAST BRUNSWICK — Her artwork is all around the world, but East Brunswick residents need only to go to the library to see it this month.
The assorted works of Rose Balsamides Sakel, a longtime East Brunswick resident and artist, is on display on three walls of the public library until the end of the month. There are presently about 20 pieces exhibited along the back and side walls of the library.
The current retrospective includes environmental abstracts, landscapes and seascapes, still-life compositions, as well as other works.
"I have chosen a few of each series that show the techniques that I’ve used over the years," she said.
"My work comes from inside," she said. "It’s not just seeing a scene and doing a scene. My works come from my heart and soul. That people find them interesting makes me very happy."
The current display at the library, which began Oct. 1, is being presented by the East Brunswick Arts Commission.
"They wanted me to show my work because I hadn’t shown it recently in East Brunswick," Sakel said.
Sakel herself has been on the commission for more than 15 years.
While she is well-known within the township, Sakel also has been met with national and international recognition, thanks to the art gallery she used to own in Long Beach Island. She opened the gallery in the early 1970s and ran it for approximately two decades. During that time, she sold her own works to people from all over the world, including Greece, France, England and Ireland.
The gallery also attracted many visitors and buyers from Philadelphia, she said, noting that many people from that area tend to love the visual arts.
Despite selling the business, she still displays much of her art in her own home.
"My home is like a gallery with all the art on the walls," she said.
Included among the works are her paintings of flowers. As a student of horticulture, she enjoys using watercolors in those types of depictions. Another common theme is the ocean.
"I’ve always been enchanted by the ocean," she said.
Sakel’s prolific style has not changed since she sold her gallery.
"I’m a very active painter," she said.
The current library retrospective is her "personal response to life."
Sakel is also well-known to art students, as she has taught the craft for years.
"I’ve taught adult and children’s classes. I’m always trying to find new techniques in order to encourage students to find new ways to express themselves that are theirs, not just copies," she said.
Sakel also finds time to work as an activist for open space preservation.
In fact, she said she worked on getting Middlesex County to purchase 1,100 acres in the Jamesburg County Park Conservation Area.
She is also the current president of the Middlesex County Conservation Council, as well as vice president of the East Brunswick Historical Society, and a member of the East Brunswick Museum Trustee Board.
After so many years as an artist, she realizes the plight of the artist is hardly smooth.
"You never really make a living," she said. "Art is, first of all, very expensive to do. It’s just impossible to consider it a really total support system. You have to do it because you love it."


