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Artists Team Up For Cottage Industry

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By ESTHER HAMMER

Tribune correspondent

Published: February 1, 2009

On a recent blustery day on Indian Rocks Beach, three women dressed in an assortment of suede boots, velvet pants, embroidered jackets and long skirts were painting on three separate canvases on three easels facing the sea. The sun glinted off their heavy costume jewelry and the wind blew their hair and scarves around their faces.

It's not your usual working artist attire, but these three are not at all usual.

Not only do they dress up when they paint, but they typically paint together, they paint on-site, en plein air and they are almost always painting the cottages and beach accesses of their beloved Gulf Coast community.

They are the Plein Aire Cottage Artists - Mary Rose Holmes, Helen Tilston and Violetta (Shtumeyzen Chandler) - and they have been painting together for seven years, producing more than 1,000 images of cottages and other buildings that may be facing the wrecking ball.

Recently they got into creating triptychs, (pronounced trip' ticks) or three-paneled paintings. Each artist paints a third of the scene and when they put the three finished pieces together, they create a cohesive and colorful whole.

It's a special kind of teamwork for artists.

"Starting in the 1980s, a lot of artists learned to work collaboratively, so there's a precedent," said Lynn Whitelaw, director of the Leepa-Ratner Museum in Largo, who is familiar with the Plein Aire artists. "But I don't know of three artists that have worked together like these three do."

Harmony Transcends Style

One of the reasons they work so well together is because Violetta, who studied art in the Ukraine where she grew up and taught at the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, served as the instructor for the other two. So there is a certain harmony among them that transcends style.

"They share the same aesthetic," Whitelaw observed. "Their styles are complementary, but each is distinct. There are subtleties in their individual creativity, so you can identify each artist."

The majority of the triptychs are of IRB beach entrances.

"Because we believe the beaches belong to everyone," quipped Holmes.

"And there are very few beach entrances now between the Don CeSar and Indian Rocks Beach," added Violetta.

How They Do It

The idea of a collaborative triptych started about a year ago when they were asked to do a painting for a charity. Instead of drawing straws for the honor, they decided all three would do one painting in three parts.

Now, 12 partnered paintings later, they have a well-established routine. First they sketch the scene on paper and then divide it up into thirds. Each artist draws her part of the scene on her canvas. Then they make sure the horizon and the water lines meet.

"The three of us are in line at this point," Tilston said "Then for the buildings and other things, we watch each other."

"There's a little mystery to it," added Holmes. "We talk to each other as we paint - like 'look at how bright that yellow is!' or 'see the beautiful purples in the sky at the horizon line?'"

And they always gather onlookers. That may be one possible reason why they always dress up to paint. But there's another. Violetta explains it as their philosophy, something she learned from her late grandmother in the Ukraine.

"Every day is a day of celebration," she said. "Painting is an ultimate job and you love it so much that you dress up for it like you were going to a great job in an office."

To learn more about the artists and see their art, go to www.pleinairecottageartists .com.

About the Artists:

• The Plein Aire Cottage artists earned a Florida Trust for Historic Preservation Award in 2007 in recognition of their efforts to preserve the cottages of Indian Rocks Beach IRB.

•In December 2007, all three participated by invitation at the "International Biennale of Contemporary Art" in Florence, Italy.

To See Their Art

•Who: The Plein Aire Cottage Artists, Mary Rose Holmes, Helen Tilston and Violetta.

•What: An exhibition of recent works, including seven new triptychs

•Where: Guppy's on the Beach Grill and Bar, 1701 Gulf Blvd., Indian Rocks Beach. (727) 593-2032.

•When: Now through mid-March

•They produce a yearly calendar of photos of their paintings, with proceeds benefitting the IRB Library and IRB Historical Museum. They also donate a portion of all sales to Action 2000.

•More Triptychs and cottages will be featured in an exhibit Feb. 17 through June 13 at the Cornell Museum of Art & American Culture, 51 N. Swinton Avenue in Delray Beach.

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