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Growing up I had
five younger siblings. As with most kids, when we are young, we always prefer
other families. In my case it was my Uncle Dean’s family. We spent most of our
holidays, including birthdays and summer excursions to my grandparents’ lake
cottage, with Uncle Dean’s family. His boys weren’t just our cousins, but quite
frankly, mischief makers. And who doesn’t love that? What trouble can we get
into as kids with all of us and the three boy cousins? They were all close in
age to me, and each one brought something different to our group.
They were fun
in so many ways. One Halloween my Aunt Jeannie brought in a make-up artist to
do our make-up, and since I was going trick-or-treating with my cousins, I was
there for my make-up too. I wasn’t allowed to look in the mirror until I was
all made up and finished and ready to go out. I was so excited to look. I was
usually a witch so I knew it might be a little scary. I was absolutely not
prepared for what I saw in the mirror. It scared me so much that I called my
mom to come get me. I never did go trick-or-treating that year.
As always, kids
grow up. We did, and in our case, everyone moved far away. Only one of the nine
of us stayed in Fort Wayne. We are scattered across the United States. But just
because we are far away from each other doesn’t mean that we don’t check in
and, of course, funerals bring us all together.
Out of all the
three boys, I was the closest to the youngest, Rick. He followed his dreams all
through his life reaching one goal after another. He worked in radio for a long
time until he realized his real passion was in art. Oh, not just any art, his
vision was to revive the PleinAir movement. For those of you who are not sure
of what that means, let me tell you. PleinAir, according to the Oxford
dictionary, means “Denoting or in the manner of a 19th-century style
of painting outdoors with a strong sense of the open air, that became a central
feature of French impressionism.”
Rick was already
a painter so taking the next step, pursuing his next dream was natural. He
began attending workshops and connecting with artists in the field. He began with
publishing a PleinAir magazine which eventually morphed into the Fine Art
Connoisseur.
Not only does
Rick paint and publish magazines, he hosts a daily (yes, I said daily) lesson
in art on his Facebook page. He has guests every day who share their love and
techniques for art. Once in a while I tune in, but his talent and mine live in
different corners. As hard as I try (okay, maybe not that hard), I am awful. I
can’t even make a gingerbread house! I do, however, find these lessons
fascinating. He also takes groups across the United States and around the world
just to paint. I often ask him, “Don’t you need a storyteller for your group?”
It is with
great pleasure and fun that Rick will be here on Saturday as the keynote
speaker for the conference on Business of Art sponsored by Steuben Arts Scene.
It was months ago that Vicki Thompson, president of the Steuben Arts Scene, told
me about the conference at the T. Furth Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday,
January 17. Eric was asked to be the keynote speaker, but they needed a bit of
a nudge from me. I did that, of course. His schedule is very tight with his own
work, workshops, traveling so he had to make sure all was clear. Well, my
friends, coming to Angola is exactly what is happening on Saturday. I am still
amazed that he made that happen, and I am thrilled.
The conference
begins at 8:30 on Saturday. Teachers and students get in free. Seriously? This
is going to be splendid, and I have the privilege of introducing Rick, known in
the art world as Eric, on Saturday. Put this on your calendar! I will be so
happy to see you on Saturday and introduce you to an outstanding man!
I want to leave
you with a quote from Rick, “Never give up on something in which you are
passionate about, and committed in doing. I love art. I love doing PleinAir
Magazine.” See you on Saturday!
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