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Faridi McFree
March 8, 1936 – August 25, 2009
Self Portrait
At the time this was painted in 1977, Faridi would’ve had much to smile about.
Faridi’s Resume
Sample pages from various resumes. Faridi would constantly update the style and content of her resume, and she was not at all shy about name-dropping.
Framed Art by Faridi
Three watercolors by Faridi McFree. For Faridi, paint and mat color were equally important in the presentation of her Healing Art. She was a strong believer that color affected mood. The text added to nearly all of her artwork was meant to be repeated as a mantra, not only while viewing the art, but many times throughout the day. The final figure is most likely Bob Dylan, who was often painted wearing a flat-brimmed feathered hat. Here he is portrayed without the hat.
New Age question
Faridi created many trivial pieces of art for her own amusement. Here, someone, perhaps Faridi, poses a question to Bob Dylan.
Eastern Airlines
One of Faridi’s first jobs was as a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines. At the table, from the camera’s point of view, a statue of the Greek goddess, Hebe, appears directly behind Faridi. In the large b&w group photo, see if you can find her. Hint: She loved being the center of attention.
Celebrate You! (part 1)
Soon after signing the 1981 contract with Doubleday to publish her book, Celebrate You!, Faridi created this imaginative television proposal. Faridi’s first experience working with children and introducing them to what she termed “Healing Art” began with the children of Bob and Sara Dylan. Years later, Faridi would work extensively with children from broken homes, creating art with them in much the same way as she imagined the process would work in this proposal. In the McFree collection are hundreds of paintings by children, some of which were enhanced by Faridi with ink pen. (See: Art With Children.)
Celebrate You! (part 2)
Sadly, Faridi’s TV show never came to pass. It would be one of many disappointments in her life, yet she always tried to maintain a positive attitude. Her inability to break through in the world of television is perhaps best summarized by this quote from Winston Churchill: “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.” Faridi wrote several proposals for TV, none of which were ever produced.
Photo
A 1954 high school graduation photo of Frieda Asmar, a.k.a. Faridi McFree.
Faridi McFree 