Rose Brein Finkel, 81, artist and businesswoman

Services will be held Tuesday, April 5, for Rose Brein Finkel, 81, of Malvern, an artist and businesswoman, who died of pneumonia Tuesday, March 29, at Paoli Hospital.

For 20 years, Mrs. Finkel was the treasurer of Artist Equity, and at the same time was active with the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen. She drove her van on weekends to juried booth shows in Pennsylvania and nearby states.

She ran large juried fine art and craft shows at Memorial Hall of Philadelphia, the Armory in Philadelphia, Yellow Springs in Chester Springs, Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, and the former Valley Forge Convention Center. She also started an annual art show at Head House Square in Philadelphia.

In 1990, Mrs. Finkel opened the Gallery at Cedar Hollow in Malvern, a consignment store for artwork and crafts of every medium, which closed in 2012.

Also in 1990, she began collating and publishing a biannual guide listing juried craft shows up and down the East Coast. The book, The Craft Show Calendar for the Craft Show Goer, was sold on Amazon.com, AC Moore Arts and Crafts stores, and was mailed to hundreds of paid subscribers, her family said. Initially six pages, it grew to 72 pages.

Mrs. Finkel created the guide after realizing there was no easy way to keep track of upcoming craft shows, according to a 2004 profile in the Phoenix Reporter & Item.

"People can use the book to plan their weekends out to see what's going on," Mrs. Finkel told the newspaper. "It's enough ahead of time to be able to sign up for a show."

Mrs. Finkel was the daughter of Jacob Brein and Ann Dubin, whose Russian immigrant parents ran a wholesale dry goods store, David Brein Inc., on Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia. Mrs. Finkel's father followed her grandfather as proprietor of the business.

Nicknamed "Penny" because she was "shiny" with good cheer, Mrs. Finkel grew up in West Philadelphia and later moved to Penn Valley, her children said.

Her passion for art began early. She attended as many art classes as she could, and was among the first female students accepted into the architecture program at Pennsylvania State University.

After transferring to Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Mrs. Finkel earned a bachelor's degree. She followed that with a master's degree from Moore College of Art and Design.

She worked in photography, papermaking, painting, lithography, and calligraphy, eventually specializing in printmaking. She produced a line of signed, embossed note cards using linoleum as a printing medium.

The cards featured scenes of mothers and children, images of animals, abstract designs, and figures related to Judaica, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Valentine's Day.

In 1955, she married Edwin Frederic Finkel. The two lived in Wissahickon before moving to King of Prussia and then Malvern, where they reared three children.

She was routinely involved in the extracurricular activities of her brood. She enjoyed music, playing piano, singing, gardening, and world travel.

A warm, spontaneous person, Mrs. Finkel would "often give hugs and had an endless supply of love for others. She was always full of zest and optimism," her family said.

In addition to her husband, she is survived by a son David; daughters Jill Finkel and Nancy Cahill; three grandchildren, a brother; and nieces and nephews.

A funeral service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 5, at D'Anjolell Memorial Homes, 2811 West Chester Pike, Broomall. Interment will be in Haym Salomon Memorial Park, Frazer.

bcook@phillynews.com

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