Rule Creations

Response to Gary Alan Ruse’s “Beach Scene”

I really never expected to find such a wonder among my husband’s collection. It’s not that I thought little of his artistic talent, but rather that it was hidden away among some old cloths in a secret corner among a lot of old empty plastic bags and dust. After peeling everything away, I found it, a tender painting that has some mystery and touched the heart.

The image is of a peaceful setting that is well known to Miami residents. It is a beach overlooking a wide inlet. On the beach’s white sand, there is a small boat and three curved coconut palms. In the distance, there is a sailboat on the placid water. While looking at the image, I feel a sense of tranquility and completeness. My husband did the painting upon returning from Vietnam, and I imagined that this peaceful image must have been somewhere inside of him while he was overseas. He had made the painting in 1971, and I found it while cleaning this year in 2023.

The painting, at 52, creates a mystery. Why is a small boat on the shore, and why is the other boat still at sea? Where are all the people? Originally, I thought that the sailboat was anchored, but my husband pointed out that the sails weren’t down. I really became immersed in the painting and started to create a story about it in my head. I thought that the small boat was a loved one who had finished his time at sea and had arrived at a peaceful place to rest. Meanwhile, the sailboat was still on the seas. The distance of the sailboat from the shore made me think that the person still in their journey was not near their end. Because of the size of the small red boat, I thought that it was a young, vivacious person with a lot of strength or vigor. Also, the coconut trees made me think of plenty and satisfaction. The person who had landed would have food. Their shade would provide shelter. I asked my husband if he had a specific place in mind, and he said that it was his “ideal beach.” Here the idea of a beach, of perfection supports my thought of the small boat arriving at the afterlife, since, the afterlife is usually a place where everything is perfect and peaceful and all souls find solace and comfort there.

Looking at the work like this brings me some measure of peace. Right now I’m listening to one of Rachmaninoff’s Romances, and the experience of the painting is much different than when I first saw it. At first, I was looking at its composition. The balance of the sides of the painting made an impression on me. The beach and the water shared an almost equal spatial arrangement with the beach on one side and the water on the other. The lines in the painting intrigued me also, as the small boat’s markings led to the water and back to the bright yellow sail as did the coconut palms’ curves. Most of all, its subject led me into contemplation. I was moved by the peace and stillness of the image plus the mysteries of the boats. I have just found out about the death of someone quite special to me. Seeing this painting helped me think that my friend was waiting in a sunny and peaceful place. So, my impression of the painting has changed from sincere admiration to an appreciation reserved normally for someone who has provided healing.

My husband liked the fact that I enjoyed thinking about his painting and that it brought me some peace about my friend. He says that he doesn’t remember what the boat symbolized, if anything, and that he chose those particular colors for technical reasons. It’s always nice to find a gem hidden away in the dusty corners of a mind, heart or home. This was definitely worth closely meditating on and I’m glad to share space with his work, and the artist isn’t so bad either! 😉

Sketching Session

Purpose

This session served a dual purpose. On one hand, we got to do something fun together. Gary and both love making things, so this gave us an opportunity to do something together. The other purpose was instructional. I wanted to practice my shading skills.

I learned about hatching, cross-hatching and doodling. I also learned how to turn a colored pencil so that the tip will last longer and I won’t have to sharpen it as much.

Materials

Prismacolor® Colored Pencils
Pencil
Mechanical Pencil
Sketchbooks
Erasers

Procedure

We took a drawing for inspiration and tried to copy it. It was a lot of fun. I started by doing the outline of the flower using a regular #2 pencil. Gary was using a mechanical pencil. I tried to keep each line as true to the original in terms of length and curve as I could. When that was done, I looked at it and just kind of stared. There was one petal that was a little too big, so I erased and kept at it.

Then, I took the colored pencils and practiced my shading. This was all very relaxing and brought down my blood pressure a bit. It was easier to breathe, and my mood improved. Gary said that he had his doubts as first, but in the end was pleased with our little session.

The Image

He did the one on the left, so you kind of know that I did the one on the right. Really, there is no political significance to this, it’s just a coincidence.

Even though we both started with the exact same flower, we deviated slightly with the shading. Value judgements are not appropriate for this type of thing. Oh, what the hell! We did a great job.

This is the first post in our personal series on learning artistic techniques. Although Gary minored in Graphic Design at UM where he graduated, I am a sort of novice. This is a wonderful experience. I hope that you like our humble sketches.

Ivonne Ferrer Prepares for New Exhibit

The Artist

Born in Cuba, this celebrated sculptor now calls Miami, Florida home. She works with ceramics and mixed media. Ivonne Ferrer adds color and vibrancy to any room, not just with her work but with her personality and smile.

The Event

She is preparing some art pieces for an exhibition in the Marco Island Center for the Arts located at 1010 Winterberry Dr. on Marco Island. This is a personal exhibit at the Petite Gallery. It is scheduled to begin on July 10 and to run until August 1, 2023.

The Works in Progress

The work consists of sculptures of assorted body parts painted or tinted in perfectly clean white. They include a human arm with a hand, a baby’s head and a woman’s shoe. These parts are framed and enshrined in colorful cabinets. The cabinets seem to be wood painted with white on the outside and bright colors on the inside.

At first, when I looked at the objects, I was attracted to their clean lines and classic forms. The hand’s features, for example, are ideal and show care for their allusion to a perfect specimen of a hand. Then, the more I thought about it, the more grotesque the items became. I don’t mean grotesque as in displeasing to the eye, but monstrous.

Placing these assorted parts, evidently human, but dead and colorless, in those colorful containers evoked a sense of irony as if celebrating an ideal that is broken and dead. It seemed as though the works celebrated the destruction of a highly regarded ideal. Not just its destruction but its dismemberment is depicted and because of the colors, enjoyed.

Pinecrest Gardens: Gallery Crawl 2023

Pinecrest Gardens had an incredible event on April 15 that began at 5:00 PM. There were two people at the door receiving tickets and giving out coupons for the concession. There were over two hundred patrons casually dressed and enjoying themselves exploring art, learning about the environment and enjoying expertly created food, drink and music. Three buildings housed artworks. Each building contained works by a different artist. One building had Annette Bonnier, Xavier Cortada was in another and the main gallery had Artists Set the Table curated by Carola Bravo.

We met Cristina Blanco, the Director of the Gardens, who had been part of our correspondence and had told us of the event. She advised us on how best to enjoy the Special Exhibition. Blanco mentioned that we could begin at the Inspiration Center to see Bonnier’s collection of photographs, then walk back to Xavier Cortada’s showing at the Hibiscus Gallery and then cross to the Cypress Hall which showed the hARTvest collection.

Wildlife on Display

There was plenty to see between the buildings. The gardens have many tropical plants, some swans and many peacocks. An attendant mentioned that there were owls which were difficult to see because they tended to stay away from people. The peacocks kept making hissing noises and loud yells that sounded like women yelling for help. They watched me walk around and let me get quite close. The peacocks danced and spread their beautiful feathers. It was quite a display.

Outdoor Exhibit Spotlighting Climate Change

Xavier Cortada’s work was displayed outdoors on the way to the Inspiration Center. It featured some flags and placards with numbers painted on them. Each number indicated how far underwater the ground would be if the current levels of climate change continued. Along with many scientists and experts, he is predicting a dangerous rise in the sea levels. This means that towns along the coast risk being flooded sooner than we would like. His work calls attention to the facts about our environment and the precarious conditions in which we live. He has visited many centers of political strength exhibiting his work and raising awareness.

He also had these interesting pieces. One was a large board with all of these note cards with small messages written on them. On each card, someone had written a note to another person living a hundred years from now. It had to be about the environment. I wanted to write something saying that the world was saved because the youth cared, but Gary said that the note cards were for kids and I shouldn’t write on them.

The other wall had containers with plants growing in them. Each of these plants were salt tolerant and could slow down erosion caused by water at the oceanside.

Inspiration Center

It was an honor and a pleasure to make the acquaintance of this talented, grounded and inspiring artist, Annette Bonnier. She talked to us candidly about her experience during the pandemic and what led her to create these “Reflections from the Shadows.”

When I took the picture here, I realized that there were so many layers in this image. The artist, Bonnier, had created the image which I had then photographed and now the computer is reproducing all of these times. It is so amazing to me.

Her work speaks to the resilience of the human spirit which can find beauty in the most difficult circumstances created by isolation, disease and loneliness. Her travels to Africa and Jamaica also inspired her to create impactful and humane images. Her tender smile and open nature drew me in and made me want to stay with her, talking about what really matters.

More information about her work can be found on her website AnnetteBonnierPhotography.com.

Hibiscus Gallery

Elizabeth Heise, Xavier Cortada and Jill Reiter (l-r) © Helen Lemus, 2023.

This exhibit was entitled “Underwater Florida.” It featured the art of Xavier Cortada. Earlier in the article, there was mention of the symbolism of the placards with the numbers on them.

Here is his website that will explain more about his position on global warming and what each of us can do.

https://cortada.com/foundation/

Cortada is a highly involved member of the community who has long advocated for the protection of our living areas. He has given TED Talks, has spoken to government leaders and has worked with youth to call attention to our global village’s environmental needs. It was a pleasure to ask him a question and get a wry smile and a great answer.

Cypress Hall

“Artists Set the Table” was a collection curated by Carola Bravo featuring the work of over 80 Cuban artists. These ceramics were as diverse as the individuals who produced them.

Gary and I were both amazed at the collection. Some of the plates were whimsical, funny, and provocative. Others were subtly charged and spoke of the same resilience and heart that has fueled the success of so many in the Cuban community.

It was so nice to spend some time with Yvonne Ferrer of the Museum of Contemporary Arts of the Americas. The warm-hearted passionate artist explained to us about the inspiration for her work with ceramic sculpture. During the pandemic, she and a fellow artist Evelyn Politzer created a heart-shaped work to express the need to care and show compassion for each other in concrete actions. She said the heart is the center of the emotions, is where pain and feelings dwell and is where life grows. She said that we all have a heart.

For more information about the museum check this link out:

https://www.mocaamericas.org/

It was such a great evening. I cannot wait to go back to the Gardens for another lovely time.