A new man A new life

Jacqui Brown

When it comes to artistic works, one usually associates the creative

process with a steady hand. But when it comes to 43-year-old Roger

Cupples, whose hands and body shake like a wind-whipped Aspen tree in

Colorado, a steady hand might actually deter the structural effect of

his ceramic works of art.

“It’s serendipity,” Cupples said, proudly showing off some of his

finished pieces. “Sometimes a piece gets its shape by collapsing on

its own, sometimes I might accidentally hit it with my hand but

that’s what makes each piece unique.”

The array of ceramic sculptures he calls “vessels” will be on

display at his debut art show at the Creative Art Center in Burbank

beginning Friday evening. Joining him in this three-artist show will

be Lynn Gadal, whose watercolor paintings illuminates her perception

of solitude and adventure, and Nancy Goodman Lawrence, whose collage

work gives you a glimpse of her humor and creativity.

Cupples, who lives in North Hollywood, has spent the last 10 years

redefining his life after suffering severe head trauma in a car

accident on an icy Chicago street in December 1995 that left him with

secondary Parkinson’s disease and other motor function disabilities.

After spending months in a hospital bed, undergoing surgeries to

repair eye damage and trying to learn how to cope with how his body

movements would forever disrupt his peacefulness, he realized he’d

never be able to return to the life he once knew. And that

realization hit hard.

“I spent a lot of years in sadness, in anger and denial because I

really didn’t know what I could do or should do,” Cupples said. “I’m

trying to live presently and in the future but sometimes it’s

difficult not to live in the past remembering what my life used to be

like.”

Life before the accident kept him very busy. He was a cook for a

catering company that served elegant dinners at private parties

across the Southland and worked at Q is for Quilts in Burbank where

his eye for color developed and his ability to create remarkable

quilts grew. Some of his quilted creations have made their way across

the country at a variety of shows.

“I probably would have been a wonderful quilter had I had a little

more time but I can’t do it anymore,” he said.

Cupples’ shaking prevents him from sewing.

He also attended classes and taught children’s ceramic classes at

the Creative Art Center during the last 15 years.

“I tried to go back to teaching children after the accident but I

couldn’t keep up because it was too demanding to the point where it

became disabling,” he said.

So instead he returned as a student, not so much to become an

artist, but to have a place to develop his creativity and make new

friends.

“This facility has given me life again because I lost so much of

it in the accident,” Cupples said. “This to me is the spiritual

process to healing.”

Having spent the last few weeks packing up and pricing the body of

work he created over this last year in preparation for this show, he

said it’s finally beginning to sink in that he truly is an artist.

“It’s an awesome feeling coming from a place of not being able to

do anything for so long,” Cupples said. “I’m thrilled, excited and

nervous.”

Along with celebrating his promising art career, Cupples is

ecstatic to be driving again and is not embarrassed in the least that

his new vehicle has three wheels and a large basket behind the

driver’s seat. Just this past month he purchased an adult-sized

tricycle equipped with a bell and headlight and is logging miles on

the Chandler bike path to and from the Art Center, a 6.1-mile

round-trip ride.

“My partner of 18-years, Jack, has been driving me around

everywhere and now I don’t have to wait for him to come home after

work to go to the grocery store or the hardware store,” Cupples said

adding that although he’s enjoying this new freedom he stays off the

main roads because they scare him.

“Being able to get around on my own is a wonderful thing to have

in my life again.”

One of Cupples’ biggest fans is Barbara Rog, his instructor at the

Art Center. She knew him long before the accident and recalls that he

was once one of the center’s most popular children’s teachers.

“He always had such a great sense of design, that part never left

him,” Rog said. “He makes the pieces work and I think they’re

phenomenal.”

As for the show in its entirety, Rog said it should be a great

collaboration between all three artists. Gadal, who is a veteran of

the art world, said her preference for watercolor was born from the

way the colors rainbow into each other.

“I think it’s such a natural quality and I just melt when I paint

with watercolor because it’s like blood flowing,” Gadal said. “It’s

fluid and I don’t think you can achieve the same thing with acrylic

or oil because of the consistency.”

Many of her pieces have solitary structures set in the middle of

nowhere and cloud filled skies, something she said she’s had a

fascination with since she was a little girl.

“I can’t get them out of my head,” Gadal said.

Lawrence, who became inspired to do collage nearly a dozen years

ago after working on a cut and paste project with students while

substitute teaching, said many of her pieces are autobiographical,

like her “Hot Flashes,” which shows a naked woman standing in various

positions in front of a fan.

“There’s humor in most of the pieces because I like to poke fun,”

Lawrence said.

What adds to the interest of her work is the unusual use of maps

Lawrence said she discovered while cleaning out her parents’

apartment.

“I started incorporating them into the work I was doing and

suddenly it became a whole new thing,” she said.

Glendale resident and Gallery Director Francis Santisteven said

this show is a must-see not only because all the art is fantastic,

but also because patrons are sure to be inspired by Cupples’ can-do

attitude.

“This is going to be a really great show,” she said.

FYI

WHAT: Art show featuring Sculptural Ceramics by Roger Cupples,

Watercolor by Lynn Gadal & Collage by Nancy Goodman Lawrence

WHERE: Creative Art Center, 1100 W. Clark Ave., Burbank

WHEN: 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, artist’s opening reception. Show will

run through Aug. 25. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday

through Thursday and 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday. Saturday hours vary.

ADMISSION: Free

CONTACT: (818) 238-5397