NEWTON, Mass.—Vartus Artinian Varadian happens to be a graphic designer and art director by education who turned to Chinese brush painting after her sudden cancer diagnosis in 2009.
Her world of horticultural art was all the therapy she really needed as a means of meditation and inspiration in overcoming her disease.
Beautiful, colorful floral works are transmitted onto greeting cards for all to appreciate as part of an operation she heads as creative director, called Vartus Design.
Judging by her vast credits and vivid portfolio, the operation has done her well. A reoccurrence and life-saving bone marrow transplant in 2010 gave her a new future in the fragilities of life.
Following a routine checkup in 2009, a rare form of cancer was discovered. The treatment proved successful, but a year later the chemo resulted in leukemia. A transplant was needed to gain assurance that the leukemia would be eliminated.
Her family reached out to the Armenian community to find a donor, as ethnicity would make a difference in her search.
Several months of bone marrow drives with the Providence, Worcester, and New York communities, as well as the Bone Marrow National Registry, led to a match.
The person who stepped forward, cared enough to be tested, got registered, and ultimately saved her life was of Turkish extraction.
“Keep in mind that finding a perfect match is very rare,” said Varadian. “Patients wait years to find a match. Luck was on my side. I waited two years to find out that my donor lived in Germany and was a 45-year-old woman of Turkish descent. No matter what background, I am forever grateful. Communication has been slow but I’m optimistic that at some point, we will meet.”
Grateful, too, is the world of art. Had it not been for the disease, Vartus may never have rekindled a latent talent and turned to Chinese brush painting.
Her family emigrated from Romania in the 1960’s, leaving behind communism for a better life for their children. Their journey was aided by the ANCHA through Beirut. They were set to migrate to South America and join relatives in Argentina. However, the unsettled climate veered them toward the United States.
Ironically, it was not until she met and married Paul Varadian that she discovered another connection. Paul’s grandmother, Vergin Karentz, was an instrumental figure in the creation of the ANCHA.
The couple has two children, Sonig and Nevart, both active AYFers like their dad, who spent 18 years as Armenia’s official representative to the International Olympic Committee and is now an entrepreneur with various business interests.
Vartus’s family—mother, father, and two sisters—settled in Worcester in 1962 when she was eight years old. She and her sisters were welcomed into the Armenian community and went from the high school ranks into college.
“My interest in art started at an early age,” she recalls. “I was encouraged by an Armenian art teacher, Der Antranig Baljian’s Aunt Rose.”
Vartus graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art in 1977 with a degree in graphic design. She remained in Boston after graduation, taking on several positions in art.
She established a reputation in the field after working for several design and advertising companies, including Hill Holliday, Polaroid, Arnold Communications, Lotus, and IBM, where she was a worldwide software brand manager.
Throughout her professional career of 35 years, she’s received a number of awards and accolades for excellence. Her business career offered many challenges but nothing compared to the battle fighting cancer.
Her creativity with Chinese brush painting (paintings and cards) are being sold through numerous galleries and gift stores.
“After my first treatment, I was encouraged by the hospital to attend a Wellness Community for support and communicate with other people who were going through cancer,” Varadian brought out. “It was within this community of services that I took a Chinese painting class. It quickly became a means of meditation and relaxation for me.”
“Painting allowed me to escape the turmoil and effects of dealing with cancer,” she resumed. “Today, I continue to be involved with the Wellness Community, organizing exhibitions and shows through the Newton Art Association.”
Varadian goes on to explain the rudiments of Chinese painting as a unique art form.
“With a few strokes, the essence of your subject is captured,” she explains. “Color loading of your brush is essential as you create the form with one stroke. It takes many, many years of practice to become a master.”
She met with Ruth Thomasian in 1992 at Project SAVE and has become an indispensible component of the calendar project. Her design capabilities were never lost in transit.
“Ruth and I always kept in touch through the years,” she said. “But it wasn’t until this past year, after Ruth asked for designer recommendations, that I offered to design the 2013 calendar. I’ve always believed in preserving our history and the Project SAVE mission coincided with my beliefs.”
Thomasian is equally grateful for the help being rendered from such a dedicated professional.
“Vartus has given our calendar a fresh, updated look by layering photographs over a background map and shadowing the photo edges to give a 3-D effect,” said Thomasian. “She positions the images as if in a family album, ready for viewing. Her designs bring our Project SAVE photographs to life.”
Besides painting, Vartus continues to take on small design projects within the Armenian community. She created the design materials for the most recent Armenian Heritage Monument at the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston.
“Throughout my ordeal with cancer, my family, friends, and Armenian community have always been behind me,” she says. “It is through them that I continued my fight and never gave up hope. I knew I had to fight to be cancer free and never thought I’d lose this battle. It’s engrained in the fabric of my Armenian heritage.”
Tom Vartabedian
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