Kelseyville >> In 2007, on the top of Cobb Mountain, Leszek Forczek suffered a heart attack. From this serious and daunting medical issue came something wonderful: “Topaz Mountain,” a DVD project recently completed by Forczek and his ex-wife, Casse Waldman Forczek.
“I would say that it’s really a testimony accompanied by poetry and music,” explained Waldman Forczek.
While the endeavor is termed a “DVD project” this is admittedly a slightly ambiguous term. Topaz Mountain is an art project, but it’s not a traditional film. “It’s a unique chromatic animation of illuminist watercolor landscapes,” said Waldman Forczek. “It is not a video. It is a chromatic animation of still pictures.”
Leszek Forczek is the artist behind the watercolor images as well as the narrator and director of the project. About 20 or so years ago, Forczek began a workshop series instructing individuals in a wide variety of themes, such as landscapes, florals, animals and figures. “He started to teach water color painting in 10 or 12 different cities throughout America,” said Waldman Forczek. “Only because you couldn’t learn them in a university, you couldn’t find them in a book.”
His pupils were a dedicated bunch. “He has pockets of students all over the country who have studied with him,” Waldman Forczek said. She explained that when Forczek visited a city for a workshop, students would give him food and housing for the weekend, free of charge. “There was one student in Alabama who took notes for every class. It’s really wonderful what the students have done to keep this work memorialized.”
Sometimes inspiration is a two way street, however. Forczek wasn’t the only one to have an effect on those around him; his students played a crucial role in getting “Topaz Mountain” off the ground. “After his heart attack, and they [his students] thought, ‘Well he might not live for very long,’ they wanted to see his art,” explained Waldman Forczek. “They said, ‘This can be your legacy Lezsek.’”
From there, Topaz Mountain was born. And the water color landscapes were only a small part of putting together the project. For the last five years, the Forczek’s have been reaching out to people for help with the production, from musicians to speakers. One flute player from Hollywood gave them permission to use any and all of his music. “We’re graced by a short five minute speech by Jim Steele,” Waldman Forczek said. “And then there’s James Brown Eagle who’s our local prayer leader in the Native American community here.”
That these two community leaders both played a hand in the success of this project adds extra richness to the narration of Topaz Mountain. “We encouraged them in this particular introduction to work together and realize that we can get more things done in cooperation,” said Waldman Forczek.
Cooperation was evident as the group gathered to unveil the completed project recently. Forczek fell seriously ill. His supporters helped rally him back, though he remained too weak for interviews.
“Topaz Mountain” is just as much an environmental statement as an art project. “The essential theme is really on our concern of the deterioration of the essential landscape,” explained Waldman Forczek. “The use of coal and what we have done to affect climate change and the destruction of the mountains for a couple months of coal power. Socio-political issues that have become paramount in the last year or so … It is an awakening of the beauty and the vulnerability of the mountains
and the lake, the glaciers which are all connected.”
And in a way, the project was ahead of its time. “When we started the movie five years ago there was nothing of the time,” said Waldman Forczek. “It’s possible we chimed into what has been evolving over the last couple of years. It’s a slow evolving of the erosion of the landscape, of the mountains, of the arctic ice for example and the polar bears disappearing slowly.”
But that doesn’t necessarily mean Topaz Mountain is anything more than an art project. “This is not a documentary but it gets people thinking,” Waldman Forczek explained. She mentioned environmental issues that are pressing on her mind, like the decline of birds in Canada’s skies or the depleted rainforest. “These things are not mentioned specially in Topaz Mountain.” Instead the mountain is “the archetype of all mountains, the archetype of all the land on the earth that we really need to treasure and preserve not for ourselves but for future generations.”
While Forczek was the artist behind the project, it was by no means a solo endeavor. “I did all the video and studio and did all the photography and put it together,” explained Waldman Forczek. “It was definitely a team effort. He couldn’t do without me and I couldn’t do without him … We are really partners not only in this project but in our lives.”
In addition to the beauty of the watercolors and the serious environmental issues, Topaz Mountain seeks to represent the county. “We really worked hard to make this presentation something that the community will be proud of,” said Waldman Forczek. “I think its really important that this movie really is from the heart of Lake County. It will open peoples eyes to a very beautiful mountain, Mt. Konocti. I think the time is ripe for this to come out.”
Unfortunately, screenings of “Topaz Mountain” were recently put on hold when a serious illness struck Forczek once again, and he was taken to the hospital the day before a screening. Before his admittance to the hospital, he continued to diligently work away on the project. “Leszek has had about twp years of no sleep,” said Waldman Forczek. “Even through all of that his strength of character and will has really carried him to still being with us.”
Waldman Forczek hopes that within the next few weeks they will be able to show Topaz Mountain once more. “No matter what, the movie must be seen,” she said.
Once the project is viewed by the community and beyond, the Forczek’s hope more and more doors continue to open. “Lake County can be an arts center, it can become another Marin, it can become another Sausalito,” Waldman Forczeck insisted. “That’s Leszek’s goal for Lake County.”
Jennifer Gruenke can be reached at 900-2019.
