Fine Art More Than Self Discovery
Original Artifacts article by Mitzi Gordon
For students of all ages, taking a class at Dunedin Fine Art Center is about more than just discovering your talents. As artistic skills grow, so does a shared passion to create, drawing people together even in difficult times. It’s about building lifelong bonds with instructors and fellow students and becoming part of a true fine art family.
Joe Rooney of Tarpon Springs is one important member of that family. He came to the Dunedin Fine Art Center nearly a decade ago, when his late wife Susan Rooney began taking classes in stone sculpting.
Fine Art Sparks Inspiration
Brand new to the process, Sue had the spark of inspiration. She was drawn toward sculpture, recalling the breathtaking art of Michelangelo, seen during a backpack tour of Italy taken in her youth.
Sue studied and practiced for eight years, eventually receiving the Best in Show award at DFAC’s 2015 Student/Member/Faculty exhibition. She never stopped creating and was in the middle of a sculpture when she lost a brief battle with cancer in the summer of 2015. Her behest to Joe: Take up my chisel and keep creating with our DFAC family.
“She said the finished piece would be from both of us,” Joe said. “I’m merely trying to bring out what she had in mind. It’s quite emotional.”
Under the guidance of instructor C. Fulton, founder of the art center’s stone carving program, Joe learned how to chisel in rough shapes and add detail with rasps before sanding and waxing. He was nervous at first, concerned he might damage Sue’s work. .
A Supportive Family
But instructors and fellow students were warm and encouraging.
“The artists are real tight groups—they’re really supportive. They said they wouldn’t let me mess it up,” Joe said.
Fulton, who spent more than a decade studying in Italy and is now marking her 16th year of teaching the classic art of stone carving, said Joe has been a quick study.
“We have a very good camaraderie here,” she said. “We’ve created a family.”
Fellow artist Theresa Cremo described Sue as a “passionate and caring friend and an inspiration to the vibrant community of stone sculptors.” Their growing Suncoast Stone Sculptors Guild, of which Sue was a charter member, draws that community together each month to discuss work, exchange ideas and provide further support.
After his first class last year, Joe completed one of Sue’s pieces and titled it ‘Hole in One‘. The sculpture became part of the art center’s 2016 Student/Member/Faculty exhibition.
Now Joe spends hours at the DFAC Cottage Campus honing rough alabaster and other stones from Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming into works of art.
He’s currently working on another sculpture Sue started, featuring graceful stone dolphins leaping over ocean waves. Joe plans to finish it this summer while staying at his Massachusetts cottage, then enter it into the March 2017 DFAC exhibition.
“I’ll be doing this for a long time,” Joe said. “She’s working with me, I can feel it. She could see something in the stones, see what’s inside and bring it out.”
Dunedin Fine Art Center proudly offers a diverse array of classes for students of all ages and skill levels. If you are interested in signing up and would like to learn more, please visit www.dfac.org.