by Jolene Sharp
posted November 3, 2009
Roslynne Steinberg built a new life for herself through art. It’s clear from her compelling appearance in a new ad for the Medicare Advantage company that HealthSpring member and Chattanooga resident Roslynne Steinberg is a painter. But the story of how she became a successful artist takes more than a television commercial to tell.
Ms. Steinberg did not expect the failure of her New York real estate business to be a positive development in her life. She was 60 years old and had lived in New York all her life when bankruptcy left her with nothing.
She had few options and found herself relocating to a new city thousands of miles away. Looking back, Ms. Steinberg identifies that low point as the catalyst for the best thing that could have happened to her.
It was shortly after her move to Chattanooga, that she decided to take art classes. She was working at a department store but worried about supporting herself long-term. She enrolled in every art course offered through the local Hunter Museum, and then she took private lessons from her oil painting instructor. "She said, ‘Just paint,’ so I started painting New York scenes,” Ms. Steinberg said.
“I thought my goal was to make little paintings and sell them at a flea market for maybe $25,” she said. In fact, her first painting sold at an art show in 2002 – for $179, and before the show even opened. “I had to bring them another painting, and that sold the day of the show. That’s all the encouragement I needed, and I started to call myself an artist and became very, very serious.”
Ms. Steinberg has now made a name for herself as a painter of New York scenes, but she also does commissioned portraits and a wide range of other work.
“I discovered I can paint anything,” she said. “I never turn anything down. I just go for it.”
Her current projects include a series of political paintings, such as portraits of President Obama and Rudy Guiliani and a scene from a local Tea Party rally.
Ms. Steinberg continues to take art classes at Chattanooga State and is associated with the Hunter Museum, where she first began her art training. She has made connections throughout the Chattanooga art community. “I’m very well-known in this town. And I know many, many artists. Many of them tell me I’m like their mentor, I’m their inspiration. I eat it up; I love it!”
“As I said in the HealthSpring commercial, my biggest fear was being a little old lady and walking into a room and being ignored – being invisible. That does not happen.”
Ms. Steinberg stays active with regular exercise and watches what she eats. She also depends heavily on her HealthSpring Medicare Advantage coverage for access to good medical care when she needs it.
“Certain things happen to your body that you can’t hold back,” she said. “As long as HealthSpring takes care of me, that’s all that matters.”
Good health for Ms. Steinberg means being able to continue the painting that brings her such fulfillment. “I just feel so lucky or blessed that I have this talent. It just keeps me going, it keeps me young. I’m not ready to give in to old age.”
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