Barbara Fahrnbauer

Where Are You From? (Volume 1) Barbara Fahrnbauer

Albert Fahrnbauer vowed on his mother's deathbed that he would dedicate his life to the service of mankind, and chose Art, through portraiture. He set out to develop a new scientific system that inspired people through color matched to each personality - a portrait that revealed a blueprint toward a radiant better life. Albert's vision is the center of his life. But he needs help. He marries with the understanding his wife Barbara will join him in developing his Science-Art. They will have no children. He wants her to join him every step of the way painting only with his system. She must abandon her free-spirited, messy way of painting. This is the story of where each of them came from, their different personalities and how their backgrounds inspired, damaged, and diverged throughout their lives together. Volume 1 - Inspired by Albert, Barbara marries him without really understanding what he wants of her. It is 1952. They live in the east side tenement district in New York City, "like walking backwards through time" There are no refrigerators. Blocks of ice, swung onto a man's back with a huge hook are delivered up three flights of stairs to an icebox for 25 cents. Volume 2 is the journey to Atlanta, Georgia, and buying a home-studio. Albert inherits $10,000 and buys a dairy farm. Volume 3 opens with joyous hope for life on their farm. They are burdened by debt and the failure of the dairy. They hoped their farm would be their Garden of Eden. So begins Albert's remorse over abandoning his vow to create a new system of art. Everything they try shrivels to dust. Even the maids they hire during the Christmas rush for portraits seem to have a lot to teach them, Barbara especially.