Her father faced work discrimination for his religion and the family was poor, but eventually moved to a middle-class neighborhood.
She also remembers weekend visits to the Detroit Institute of Arts where she recalls being taken by brightly colored Flemish paintings full of small figures.
Zeldis was overwhelmed by his regard and his request for two paintings, saying, "I lost my voice from excitement—I couldn’t go to his lecture I was so emotionally upset.
After trying and failing to use larger canvases she stopped painting for a period of time, which was extended by childbirth and a permanent move to Brooklyn, New York.
[4] Zeldis finally resumed painting twenty-three years later, as her children grew older and her marriage ended.
The college had a "life experience" policy, which prompted Zeldis to submit her paintings despite continued apprehension over whether they were good enough.
[7] Zeldis's paintings are generally flat, lacking proportion, and brightly colored with busy compositions featuring crisply defined figures.
[10] After recovering from cancer in 1986, Zeldis was too weak to lift the masonite boards she regularly used, and instead painted on corrugated cardboard found in the street.