DEFINITE ART FOR A GENERAL SHOW
BY LUCRETIA VOIGT CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Our little island of Nantucket has more than its share of artists. Painters, sculptors, writers and actors grace our shores every summer. Once the sun has waved goodbye and the days begin to squeeze into smaller and smaller hours, the real artists come out to play. This is their rejuvenating time, the time they recharge their creative battery cells and allow their minds to take them on unfettered flights.

JULIJA MOSTYKANOVA "CHRISTMAS MORNING"

The Artists' Association of Nantucket provides safe haven for many of these artists, a warm light that cuts through the darkness. On Friday, October 19, the Artists' Association of Nantucket will introduce you to many of these artists at their Exhibit 12: General Members Show with an opening reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, 19 Washington St.

According to Bobby Frazier, the Gallery director, the General Members Shows run the gamut of the island's artists. This show is the next to last show of the year, with the final General Members Show of 2007 beginning on November 23. The General Members Shows reveal the depth of creativity and talent that abounds on Nantucket. The off-season shows tend to be populated by artists who call Nantucket "home" all year, the artists you see at the coffee shop and with whom discuss the latest story in The Nantucket Independent while waiting in line at the Stop & Shop.

EDWIN RUDD "UP ON THE HARD"

Two of the artists who will be presenting work at Exhibit 12 are Edwin Rudd and Julija Mostykanova. They represent the diversity of Nantucket artists who live here full-time, pulling creativity from the moors and beaches and turning it into masterpieces.

EDWIN RUDD, WATERCOLORIST

Edwin Rudd was born in Madisonville, Ky., a coal mining town in the hills of western Kentucky. His father played football for the University of Kentucky under the legendary Bear Bryant, tearing up the gridiron to bring home the first National and Southeastern Conference Championships in UK's history. At the age of six, Rudd moved with his mother to Connecticut, but still spent his summers running through the woods of Madisonville, learning at the feet of Mother Nature.

EDWIN RUDD "WATER TAXIS"

Rudd was destined to become an artist. His mother, aunt, grandmother and great uncle were all artists. When he was 15 his mother took him to life drawing classes at Yale University. Art was always a part of his life, and so when it was time to make a decision about college, he knew his destination had to be an art school.

Rudd once again changed his environment and traveled to Sarasota, Fla. to attend the Ringling School of Art. Ready to embark on his life as an artist, he was met with chaos and stumbling blocks - literally. "I was there at the wrong time," he said. "All the teachers I had one year were these great old teachers, then mid-way through the year they changed just about every teacher in the whole school. There were about five or six people in my class who ended up leaving because it was so chaotic. I had a great life drawing teacher who also ended up leaving."

As if it wasn't enough that the staff changed unexpectedly, construction made the physical situation as bad as the academic. "They were building a new wing on the school," he recently remembered. "We had to sleep on the floor and would wake up covered with insulation that had fallen through holes and found its way out through phone jacks."

Rudd's perseverance was stronger than the adversity that seemed to be testing his determination. He moved back to Connecticut and began taking watercolor classes under Lou Bonamarte at the Lyme Artists Association. Rudd credits Bonamarte with helping him find his voice as a watercolorist. "Lou Bonamarte is a no-nonsense watercolor teacher. He took me under his wing and taught me all the fundamentals of watercolor painting." A watercolor artist was born.

Rudd's journey around the globe wasn't finished yet, though. He met his future wife, a New Zealand native, in Connecticut, then traveled with her to New Zealand to start a life. Art was his full-time occupation, and he approached it with the drive reminiscent of his father's football days. "In New Zealand, it's all contemporary and abstract. For me to be able to make it there, I had to do competitions upon competitions to get into some of the big galleries. I did some figure stuff, because otherwise it would have to be all abstract."

While most people would finally sit back and relax once they had made a name for themselves, Rudd once again shook up the snow globe that was his life and moved full-time to Nantucket. This year he received the Most Promising New Artist Award from the Artists' Association of Nantucket. In addition, he was accepted into the Mystic Annual Art Competition, an international event that took place on September 29. Artists representing 30 different countries were accepted into the prestigious competition that only takes approximately five percent of the entries. Two of Rudd's entries were accepted, and he sold one that evening.

Rudd's success is testimony to his ability to adapt. Through it all, however, his art has remained constant. He looks to the old masters, such as Sargent, Homer, Hopper and Wyeth, for inspiration. He admires the "looseness and rawness" of their watercolors.

Though Rudd has been a member of many artist communities, he finds Nantucket unique. "Bobby [Frazier] has been such a support for me. All the people at the Artists' Association, John Lochtefeld and George Thomas to name a couple, have been fantastic above and beyond anything I've ever seen in an art society. It's amazing how open they are to new people. It's all openness with no competitiveness."

Rudd's watercolors are fresh, invigorating and expansive, much like the path Rudd has taken on his life. Of course, there is that little hint of determination that comes through, just like with Rudd himself.

JULIJAMOSTYKANOVA, OIL PAINTER

In May 2001, with $300 in her pocket and a very minor vocabulary in English, Julija Mostykanova left her home in the village of Bagegiai, Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, grabbed some friends and traveled to Nantucket for the summer. She had one more year in school where she was studying design and engineering of polymers. This trip was supposed to be a fun summer hiatus.

Six years later she is still here, and the study of polymers has given way to the study of art. Three years ago she took her first class at the Artists' Association and last year she won their Most Promising New Artist Award. Her rise in the art world may seem fast to some, but art had been calling Mostykanova even before she left Lithuania. "I always wanted to be an artist, but I never took an art class," she explained. "I just drew and painted for myself - nothing professional."

In the three years she has been studying art, Mostykanova has been trying to make up for lost time. She has taken classes with Artist Sherri Wilson Rae, calling her "my biggest influence, inspiration and teacher on island. I have learned so much from taking her classes and from her advice." Mostykanova has seen her own art change and sounds giddy when she talks about the path her life has taken. "At this point I'm still trying to figure out what I like and what I want to paint, and figure out who I am in the painting," she said. "In the beginning, you're just learning things. You don't make art - you're just learning the process, the techniques."

Mostykanova is a fast learner. Her style is in contrast to the lighter style that has made Nantucket famous, and has been described as having a "European palette." She recently explained what draws her to this style. "Some people think [my style] is too dark - but I just like the contrast of dark and light. I like the dramatic look, moodiness in paintings. For some reason I'm drawn to that, there's just some depth there that I feel."

Depth is the first obvious thing you see in her paintings. Part of that depth comes from her process. "I don't paint in one sitting. I paint in stages. I paint, let it dry, put on another layer of colors. Let it dry, glaze it. It's a long process."

Her smile was evident in her voice as she recently contemplated her future on Nantucket and her future as an artist. "People are so nice and Nantucket is very diverse. There's so many people from so many places here, and people always try to help you as much as they can. I would like to be a full-time artist. That's hard to do on Nantucket because everything is so expensive. That's my goal."

She seems amazed when asked about her success, as if she doesn't believe it is her art work we are talking about. "In the spring I'm going to have a show at the South Wharf Gallery with two other artists. It's big because it's in that gallery, and it is one of the best galleries."

Mostykanova's dark canvasses contrast the brightness of her future in the art world, a contrast she is sure to acknowledge and somehow

turn into art. I

- Exhibit 12: General Members Show opening reception takes place on Friday, October 20 from 6- 8 p.m. at the Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, 19 Washington St.