When Teuila Gerber Lavea (a former student) posted a photo of her grandfather on Facebook, I was impressed by his charismatic "movie-star" features (a little Marlin Brando, a little James Dean, a little dash of Paul Newman, maybe). And there was also a very distinct strength of character that resonated from his image, which gave me an interesting idea for a painting, the first step toward fruition of which was to contact Teuila and ask her for a copy of the photo, a suggestion to which she complied enthusiastically as I related to her that I would like to make him the subject of one of my "mousterpieces."
Most of my paintings take at least four or five days to complete; however, to my surprise, this one almost seemed to paint itself, and I completed the project in a record-breaking day and a half. From the beginning, I had an image in mind, which is not unusual, except that my images usually evolve as my projects progress. This painting, however, remained true to my original vision, the two most primary elements of which were (1) to bring Teuila into the painting, posing along side her charismatic grandfather and (2) to fuse two dramatically diverse background scenes into a single background: the Swiss Alps (since Teuila's grandfather was Swiss) and a tropical beach (since Teuila has a Polynesian heritage). And yes, there's a little bit of symbolism there.
From my initial perusal of the photo, I noticed a resemblance between grandfather and granddaughter; however, as the painting neared completion, I was struck by the depth of their familial affinity. What do you think?
Teuila and I go clear back to 1982 when she was a ninth-grade student in one of my Honors English classes at Evergreen Jr. High where, for seventeen years, one of my greatest teaching pleasures was to introduce my students to William Shakespeare, especially my male students, who invariably groaned at the prospect of having to read Shakespeare, my goal with them being to amend their "tune," once the play had been completed to at least something like, "I guess Shakespeare's not so bad after all." Usually, I was successful.
Since by school-district mandate, I was expected to teach the same play ("Romeo and Juliet") during each of the seventeen years in which I remained at Evergreen, in order to keep the project alive and fresh, I made an effort to approach the play differently each year. For some time, I had thought it would be interesting to re-create the play as a movie, but it wasn't until 1982 that I summoned the energy that such a project would require, the timing for which may also have been affected by my belief that I had an exceptionally bright group of Honor students that year, whom I was reasonably confident could bring such a complex project to fruition.
I was correct. My students embraced the idea immediately, so I took a deep breath and said something like, "Let's go for it!" And go for it we did! We didn't just slap together a thirty minute video, reminiscent of a home(made) movie, we created a full-blown, two-and-a-half-hour, mega-movie, cinematic extravaganza--I'm talking technicolor and surround sound, the whole nine Hollywood yards (actually, surround sound wasn't invented until later, but it would have had surround sound!)
I was correct. My students embraced the idea immediately, so I took a deep breath and said something like, "Let's go for it!" And go for it we did! We didn't just slap together a thirty minute video, reminiscent of a home(made) movie, we created a full-blown, two-and-a-half-hour, mega-movie, cinematic extravaganza--I'm talking technicolor and surround sound, the whole nine Hollywood yards (actually, surround sound wasn't invented until later, but it would have had surround sound!)
Almost every student I taught that year participated in some capacity, from costume-makers, to set-builders, to assistant directors, to camera operators, to lighting technicians, and, of course, to actors (and "extras"), of which there were dozens of students selected to play the roles of Capulets, Montagues, and citizens of Verona (and Mantua).
Our production team and cast would have made Cecil B. Demille envious. We actually traveled to on-site locations to shoot scenes--rode on real horses too, our primary mode of transportation to location sites consisting of my family's "Mathis-micro-mini-mobile-motor-mansion" (that's what I used to call the little, 24 ft., underpowered somewhat claustrophobic motor-home).
Yes sir. We were stylin', which brings me back to Teuila, who was cast in the starring role as Juliet, and what a stellar performance she executed. In ninth grade, Teuila was a thoughtful, very bright young lady, and having recently been provided with the opportunity to become re-acquainted with her via "Facebook," that cyber re-uniter of people worldwide, I pleasantly observed that she has not only retained those qualities, she has continued to refine them over the years.
I like to think that every once in a while God sends down a few members of his "A Team" to show the rest of us how "nice people" are supposed to behave toward one another. Perpetually positive and ever optimistic, Teuila is almost certainly a member of that elite squad: She goes out of her way to befriend all (has a ton of Facebook friends); she is a devoted spouse to her husband (about whom she had bragged on Facebook, referencing him as "my man"); she is a proud mother to four beautiful daughters (as evidenced from her Facebook photos of them); she is an unflinching defender of humanity (as suggested by the Facebook comments she posts, i.e., "The best things in life aren't things."), and as if that weren't enough, she is a multi-talented artist who can act, sing, dance (I'm talkin' Polynesian dancing!), perform, and write poetry.
Like all artists, she has a relentless need to create and an insatiable desire to make the world a better place for others. So on behalf of your many fans, Teuila, I thank you for remaining true to yourself and your proud heritage--and for being a bright beacon in a world that can use all the light and love it can absorb.
Postscript: If you know Teuila, ask her the significance of the bell (top-left-side of painting--you may have to "click" your mouse on the painting to enlarge it enough to see the bell). It is an interesting story about a poem that Teuila wrote for the school's literary magazine, "Pen 'n' Inklings," an annual project I oversaw for 17 years. Oh, almost forgot: There's a second bell in the painting. Can you find it? It took my granddaughter about six seconds, but she's had a lot of practice finding "Waldo."