Hela Norman-Noachowitz

Hela Norman
Hela Bohlen Norman (Noachowitz) died at home on Tunitas Creek on Thursday, November 11, 2010. Wife of the social surrealist painter Irving Norman, she
survived him by 21 years.
Hela was born on the island of Wangerooge in Northern Germany in 1927. As a junior in high school she was forced to abandon her math and science
dreams, as she was drafted by the government to work on the streetcars in Hanover, a dangerous job during constant bombing by the Allies. Hela returned
home after the war to an island in rubble; she told of helping her mother build a shelter out of the remains of their chicken coop.
Emigrating to San Francisco in 1954, Hela met Irving on an empty bus in a now-famous incident in which Irving informed her that she was sitting in "his"
front row window seat. Sharing their early experiences with the terrors of war, starvation, and authoritarianism, along with adventuresome spirits that led
them to travel the world and the nature they lived in, they forged a deep bond.
Moving from Sausalito to a cabin on Tunitas Creek in 1962, they settled into a rural, peaceful, hardscrabble existence. While Irving painted, Hela designed
flower arrangements and gardens at Podesta Baldocchi in San Francisco, Ah Sam in San Mateo, and nurseries along the coast. One of the highlights of
her career was traveling to Iran in the early 1970's to install an entire garden in one of the Shah's palaces.
Hela's design skills and love of plants were evidenced in the beautiful gardens at Tunitas. When the cabin burned in 1988, she rebuilt the house with her
friend Tom von Tersch, and soon replanted an even more magnificent garden.
She was an avid photographer and lover of nature. Hela was also a lifelong advocate for Irving's paintings, working tirelessly to bring his work more into the
world. Her efforts resulted in a traveling retrospective from 2006 to 2008: Dark Metropolis appeared at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California;
the Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art in Logan, Utah; the Pasadena Museum of California Art in Pasadena, California; and the Katzen Art Gallery at
American University in Washington, D.C. Hela became technically proficient in PhotoShop so she could scan and prepare final color-adjusted images
for the book which accompanied the exhibit, Dark Metropolis; Irving Norman's Social Surrealism, and a website that displays his entire oeuvre,
www.irvingnorman.com.
Hela struggled for many years from immune disorders due to pesticide exposure in her work. She succumbed to heart, blood, and muscle disorders after
a brief and sudden decline. She is survived by her nephews Jan Bohlen and Dirk Bohlen of Germany, and three grand-nieces and nephews. She was
loved and supported by many younger friends in the Bay Area and beyond. A celebration will be held at the house at 2 PM on November 21. Donations
can be made in Hela's name to the Crocker Art Museum, 216 O Street, Sacramento, California 95814.
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