Art Class Provides Medium for Seriously Ill to Overcome Despair : Artist’s Mid-Life Discovery of Talent Seems Almost Like a Story for a Film

SAN DIEGO--It sounds like a script right out of a Hollywood movie. In mid-life, a man discovers he’s been blessed with exceptional talent as an artist, but only learns this after he is found to have an illness that may soon cut short his life.

Except that this isn’t fiction. Timothy Grummon, 38, is a former Peace Corps administrator whose illness was diagnosed in 1985 as AIDS-related complex, or ARC. He discovered his artistic ability that year while attending a therapeutic art class for people with life-threatening diseases.

Grummon decided he was an artist in January, 1987, and has thrown himself into the role. The boldly colored paintings reflect his many years spent with the Peace Corps in the Mideast and Asia. The unexpected colors, the sharply defined figures and the choice of subjects often call to mind Indian, Japanese and Arabian influences.

Not only do the works have a distinctive style, but they sell. Grummon, who has received as much as $450 for a piece, views his new-found career positively. There are no second thoughts, no regret that he did not discover his artistic talent earlier.

“I’ve never felt angry,” he said.

Before he became ill, art was not even a hobby for Grummon.

“I loved my profession. I was doing what I wanted. I don’t regret it. I think living overseas has influenced my art and made me a better artist.”

Grummon’s art class teacher, Barbara Peabody, supported his artistic growth and actually encouraged him to leave the class and work at home.

“It was very overwhelming,” he said. “As my painting ability improved, my health improved and my friends were dying. I’m very thankful. This has become a very important part of my life.”

Grummon works at a utility table in the studio he converted from the living room of his Hillcrest apartment. The walls are covered with his paintings, and others are stacked around the room.

Despite having ARC, which has made him more vulnerable to disease, Grummon hasn’t given up smoking or the beer he savors each night with the television news.

“I’m still a Type A personality . . . with a very strong life force. I consider myself to be very lucky to have this (ability) develop while I’ve been fighting this disease.”

After a year’s work, Grummon recently finished a series of 11 “Panels of Love.” The paintings are displayed in the form of a cross. The five vertical paintings refer to members of his family. The seven horizontal paintings are about friends. The work is being displayed each Sunday in area churches. On April 2, they will be consecrated in a church service by representatives of the San Diego Ecumenical Conference.

“I’ve always been spiritual, but I’m not a ‘born-again’ Christian,” Grummon said. “What motivated this for me was I wondered how my mom and dad are staying sane during this insane illness. What helped them stay sane is their faith.”

He asked his family members and friends to pick a verse from the Bible, and he interpreted them in the paintings.

Being a late-blooming artist has both advantages and disadvantages, Grummon said. He doesn’t have any bad painting habits to unlearn. But, because of his lack of formal training, he has difficulty with human features.

The toughest part of painting is the marketing, Grummon said. That takes energy he doesn’t have.

But he’s not complaining. Grummon calls the discovery of his talent “pretty magical.”

“I did a fund-raising poster for the AIDS Assistance Fund in January, 1987, and I realized then I had to make a commitment to art. I decided that, if I’ve got two or three years to live, I want to do it as an artist.

“Certainly I have a reason to live now because of the art.”