AMENIA — Elizabeth Bida, 95, passed away at Northern Dutchess Hospital in Rhinebeck on Jan. 2, 2012. She was the widow of Michael C. Bida.She was born Nov. 11, 1917, in Stratford, Conn., the daughter of the late James Charles McDonald and Elizabeth Ann Spodnick. Elizabeth spent most of her life in Amenia. She graduated Amenia High School and worked as a New York telephone operator and later was the Amenia town clerk, retiring in 1977. She was a grand regent of Catholic Daughters of America (CDA) and in Court Immaculata of Amenia, and later became a member of Court Johanine in Pawling. She was awarded a 50-year pin membership by the CDA on April 22, 1995. She was also a member of the Ladies Auxiliary of the Amenia Fire Company.She is survived by her four children, Michael C. Bida of Rochester, N.Y., the Rev. John Bida of Bangall, N.Y., Gerald T. Bida of Durham, N.C., and Elizabeth A. Bida of Poughkeepsie; a sister, Margaret Mason; five brothers, James McDonald, John McDonald, Francis McDonald, Walter McDonald and William McDonald; and four grandchildren, Michelle Brady Charles, Morgan Bida, Kate Bida and Pierre Michael Bida. In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by her daughter, Patricia Marie (Bida) Brady; and four siblings, Florence Murray, Mary Niedzielski, Patricia Steward and Edward McDonald.Arrangements are under the care of the Kenny Funeral Home in Sharon. A Mass of Christian burial was held Jan. 7 at the Immaculate Conception Church in Amenia. Burial followed at the Immaculate Conception Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to the Immaculate Conception Church in Amenia, the Breast Cancer Foundation, the Ovarian Cancer Foundation or the National Parkinson Foundation.
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Artist Victor Cella with his recent painting “White Dog” in his studio and shop, Little Store Antiques in Great Barrington.
L. Tomaino
Cella greets visitors while talking with a fellow painter who comments about his work and Cella himself: “Eclectic, amazing! Victor is decidedly loved in the community and exhibits to everyone his completely open heart.” She added, “He inspires the rest of us who paint.”
Cella began devoting himself to painting about four and a half years ago. He remembers taking art classes in high school. He had finished all his credits early and was allowed, in his senior year, to take art for four hours a day. He credits his art teacher, Mr. Owen, with giving him a good foundation in art.
“Now that I paint, I rely on my teacher’s words: ‘To unify a painting, pick a color and wash it over the painting,’ or, ‘You need to mix the colors!’”
He won a scholarship to New York University to study art, but his parents said no.Instead, he attended North Adams State College, where he also took an art class at Williams College, repeating a pattern from high school in which he finished his required credits early and used the extra time to study art.
He earned a teaching degree in special education and ended up working in schools in Massachusetts and Connecticut for 37 years. He retired in 2019.
Then, four and a half years ago, he got the urge to paint, and the paintings flowed out of him.
He has sold 757 paintings, with 95 of those sold since May 7. “I am having bizarrely good luck with my paintings.” He estimates he has painted 2,000 paintings in four and a half years.
He modestly attributes his success to “I sell low and I have a built-in client base of 51 years,” he said, referring to recurring customers in his antique shop. “A billion people give me feedback.” He has two patrons who each have several of his paintings. “Unbelievably,” says Cella, “one person owns 32 and the other owns 27.”
His studio is in the back of the shop. He paints now on 16-by-20-inch canvases, some of which he recycles, finding them at Goodwill.
Cella’s paintings are tucked in almost every available space thoughout Little Store Antiques. L. Tomaino
To keep his painting fresh and himself interested because, as Cella explained, “I can’t stay with one idea for long,” he has gone through several phases: crazy dogs, grids, flowers with black backgrounds, a geometric phase and “weird people.” The “crazy dogs,” as he calls them, are popular now. One person bought eight, left to go to her car and came back for a ninth, spotted in the shop’s window — the one that brought her into the shop in the first place.
He may even illustrate a children’s book with the “crazy dogs.” A local author liked them so much she asked Cella if he’d illustrate a story about three dogs if she wrote one.
Cella was also approached recently by a person who said, “Do you know you were my favorite teacher?” She came into The Little Store, attracted by the paintings in the shop’s window. It turned out the former student owns Crystal Essence on Railroad Street in Great Barrington and has asked to sell Cella’s paintings there.
Cella, who will soon be selling the building where The Little Store is located and move it nearer to his Southfield home, was glad to be offered a new venue for his paintings.
An artist he knows, Scott Prior, a painter from Nantucket, bought one of Cella’s paintings and gave him this advice: “Never go to art school. You are an artist. Let it pour out of you.”
Cella said, “You have to follow your own path.” He mused, “If I taught art, I’d teach it in a different way. I could teach it as an awareness — how to free yourself up.”
To see more of Cella’s work, visit The Little Store (88 Main St.) or Crystal Essence (39 Railroad St.) in Great Barrington.
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