EyeWorld is the official news magazine of the American Society of Cataract & Refractive Surgery.
Issue link: https://digital.eyeworld.org/i/194331
128 EW IN OTHER NEWS October 2013 Drawing continued from page 127 Ectasy, Compassion, Reverie and Escape, an oil painting bought a studio because I wanted to work in an environment that could be messy and I could leave my work out all of the time." Later, he purchased a downtown apartment to serve this purpose. This, he explained, was also a place where his wife could spend time. Dr. Rootman's medical career took a segue in 2000 when he began spending time in Southeast Asia, namely Singapore, where he worked with the National Eye Center to develop the orbital unit in the area. There he also joined the arts community. "Altogether I did four shows there," he said. "I did one in particular that pursued Asian themes." Coke on the Rocks, a watercolor painting Human focus Kate and Adin, an oil painting Source (all): Jack Rootman, MD Over the years, Dr. Rootman has also done a number of exhibitions with people as the primary focus. "I would say there is some influence because I know the body, and I have also studied sculpting the body," he said. "I do tend to pick topics that have something to say about the person." Such psychological insight continues to influence Dr. Rootman's art. "The last show that I did was largely on beds and pillows, which also has the element of trying to figure out what happened in that bed," he said. In the last couple of years Dr. Rootman has been concentrating his efforts on the second edition of his book on orbital surgery to be released in November. He has also been working on some personal paintings commenting on the topic of social media. In addition, his interests currently extend to photography, which he uses to help develop his paintings. "I think the notion of an artist not using the camera and not using the computer now is old fashioned," he said. "Contemporary artists use anything they possibly can to develop an image." Dr. Rootman views art as having given him the opportunity to use his mind more fully. "My work was very specialized in oncology and orbital disease and pathology," he said. "I think what art gave me was the opportunity to use the other side of my brain to the exclusion of life around me." Still, he acknowledged that surgery also involves creativity. "It involves manipulating images in my head and following a pathway of imagery," Dr. Rootman said. Going forward, Dr. Rootman hopes to incorporate more emotion into his paintings and to have more human content, something he sees as understandable give the context of his 37 years in practice, where the main focus has been on patients. "People have asked me whether I would do things related to medicine and I would," he said. Dr. Rootman also hopes to share his love of the arts with his family. His children, now adults, have some interest in it. "I think the grandchildren are being very strongly influenced by their parents to pursue art as a part of life as well," he said. "It would be nice to be a part of that." EW Contact information Rootman: jrootman@me.com