Heart of Gold: Enter the Gold Home of Heart, Art, Guitars, Stars...and a Motivational Cat

This resident feature article first appeared in the Premiere issue of Forest Hills Living Magazine in April, 2022.

Under the guidance of the artistic couple, this Forest Hills, NY apartment becomes a family’s forever home.?Walking through the front door of?Andrew and Amrei Gold’s?apartment, one is greeted by beautiful, natural light and?rooms full of art, music, books, colors, textures and family mementos. Inviting, inspiring, relaxed and unique, their space makes one quickly feels at home with the Golds.?

Andrew (Drew) Gold grew up in nearby Kew Gardens, and then moved to Manhattan. He and Amrei were both dog owners at the time when they met at the dog run at Washington Square Park. After their marriage in 2009, Lily was born and they returned to Queens. Moving back to Forest Hills in 2012 was a decision they made to take advantage of the larger apartments and the quieter, cleaner neighborhood. This also provided more room to create.

“Forest Hills has treated us well.?It’s a great neighborhood: Diverse, with good food, and a solid school district. I’d say the move to Queens allowed us all to thrive.”

Drew comes from a family of artists. Both his father and great-grandfather have a history in film.?Great-grandfather, Al Gold, was responsible for the classic Hindenburg footage. His father’s credits include?The Raging Bull, The Warriors, The Wanderer’s,?and?Ghost.?When speaking of his family, he reflects upon how challenging it was for them to assimilate and start over in a new country. “They made it work and made a life for themselves”, says Drew.?And paved the way for the Golds.?

Drew attended The School of Visual Arts, with a major in Illustration and Cartooning, and graduated with Honors in ’95. With a long design career creating graphics, illustrations, and marketing pieces for major companies, his work has also appeared in?The New York Times Op-Ed?&?Sunday Book Review;?exhibited at The Society of Illustrator’s?MoCCAfest; sold to collectors and regularly featured in the Joe Boxer brands.

He started his own publishing company devoted to the creation and distribution of "Motivational Housecat!”, an indie comic strip.

“I entertain people, and it’s a lot of fun. I get a lot of positive emails and feedback on the strip, and many from aspiring cartoonists whom I encourage to keep at it!”?

Motivational Housecat?is based on an actual cat, their loveable pet, five-year-old Pixie, aka “Professor Meow, Meow”. With prints, books and tees available for sale, Drew created a unique, irreverent adult franchise that is evocative of 1970’s underground comics. You can check out more at?www.motivationalhousecat.com. He also has an assortment of décor and apparel available: https://fuzzypoet.threadless.com/

?Drew is employed full-time at a major tech/communications retail company. (You know the one.) The most rewarding part for Drew is teaching art, design, coding, music, filmmaking, and photography to?people of all ages and backgrounds.?When Drew is not helping the next generation of art makers, designers and writers, he is in his home studio amid his collection of vintage guitars. Their daughter, Lily has also shown interest in making music and is progressing quickly, learning alongside her father, who is also self-taught. Truly demonstrating that it is not just the mechanics of reading the notes, and plucking strings, but having the heart to make the music that moves us.

Twelve-year-old daughter, Lily, is at the heart of Gold life. Lily is curious, clever, loves to read, draw, laugh, and make music. She excels in school, and her favorite subjects are math and science. Her goal is to study astronomy and astrophysics. When visiting the Gold household, we had a very lively discussion about star gazing. She just received a fresh-out-of-the-box telescope for her birthday, which she was excited to take for a test drive in local parks when opportunities for heavenly events appear. (See The Amateur Astronomers Association website for observation dates in Queens:?www.aaa.org/calendar/.) Lily recently acquired a dry erase whiteboard to aid in tackling the bigger mysteries in life by solving her own equations and complex math problems (also true works of art). She explained that if no one could answer her questions satisfactorily?and if she could not find them through her own research, then she would take on the challenge herself. While there remain unanswered and possibly unanswerable questions about our Universe, I believe Lily may have the tenacity to get us closer to the solutions.

Amrei’s vivacious, elegant and stylish demeanor is inviting as she shares personal stories while offering mugs of coffee and a tray with wine and treats. Amrei is the?Head of Public Relations, North America at the German National Tourist Office.?Amrei is multi-lingual (Spanish, Arabic, French, English, German) and received her education in Germany. She holds a Ph.D. in Art History. Like Drew, Amrei has a rich background in the arts, as her father was a very talented painter.?Amrei is an avid, and successful photographer. Her work includes still life, fine art and portraiture. Most of her work has a romantic feel with a deep appreciation for memory and for the moments in life to be cherished, whether this is the promise of a blossom, a beloved pet’s gaze, the silhouette of a child’s perfectly imperfect hair swept into a bun, the freedom of a day at the beach or a cozy café window in a snowstorm.?You can see her work here:?https://www.amreigold.com/. (She is also available for hire for your next event or portrait session.)

The spirited, playful, spontaneous energy of the Golds is present throughout their interactions and the way they approach life and the artistic process. As a family, they love spending time with their neighbors and setting up playdates. They enjoy making art, traveling, visiting museums, watching movies, enjoying local attractions, like walking in The Gardens, and Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, going to The Hall of Science and “anything that slows things down and takes us out of ‘work mode’", says Drew.

As members of the community, it is important to share that positive energy with neighbors. During pandemic, they often checked in with the people around them: “How are you? How are you coping? Are you getting through it all?"

"Try not to worry too much. Things will get better… they always do.”