A STORYTELLER WITH BRUSH STROKES
BY DIANE MERCADO PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICK COOPER
With each precise brush stroke, artist Ricky Steele attempts to evoke emotion related to the people or subject matter he captures.
Dubbed the emotional painter by his contemporaries, Steele, a native of Bay County, mostly creates two-dimensional paintings in acrylics or watercolors on canvas. Recently he has been using plywood cutouts to add another dimension to his paintings. He even creates his own elaborate frames in his workshop adjacent to his Panama City home.
Ricky Steele is a painter, a motivational speaker, a youth basketball coach, and a mentor, deeply rooted in Christian faith.
“An artist becomes a storyteller with brushes and strokes of vibrant color,” he says.
He might not paint for weeks or days but, when he starts, it’s the passion he feels for his subject that becomes the impetus to finish. Once complete, Steele writes a phrase or story about how or why the painting came to be. The story is displayed next to the artwork during art shows or exhibits.
A painting depicting several young men, each representing one of many families in a remote African village, running to pick up care packages dropped from a helicopter reads, “They gathered the boxes of food that represented hope…The souls of the hungry cried out for relief. The young men brought deliverance, hope and prosperity back to the village.”
“I believe my work is my ministry,” Steele said. “I have to have some kind of relationship with the subject, feel some kind of emotional tug at my heart or mind, so that I can share what I see.”
Most of his paintings include people, old, young, white, black, alone or in groups. His Panama City home doubles as a gallery with many of his paintings covering the walls in each room. The works of some of his contemporaries also hold a special place on these walls, each telling a different story.
Much of Steele’s work exudes some form of universal human condition or issue, feelings or experiences all people can relate to in some way. His collections depict scenes of racism, poverty, and old age, but he also shows some of life’s lighter moments that involve children at play, musicians at work, and simple laughter.
His style, though often recognizable, changes to suit the subject or issue he hopes to portray. Using bright colors against ebony skin tones, he masters the feeling of camaraderie among a group of African women dancing or working in step with each other. His style takes on an abstract form in his series of jazz musicians. And there are paintings where he uses more subdued colors to show an ethereal sense of being.
Steele reflects that he “creates works that will enhance one’s understanding of the joy of childhood, the beauty of mankind, and the love of family ties. Each piece magically touches you in a way that tugs at your heart strings and helps you understand our history.”
“I want to create art that evokes strong emotions, emotions that bring about change or illustrate things that happen in this world and things that should not happen,” he says.
As a young boy he remembers often getting into trouble in school for drawing. “From grade school to my senior year in high school I was a good student but I got in trouble a lot because my teachers would catch me drawing instead of doing my work,” he remembers. “Then we made a deal. They’d seat me in the back of the classroom and let me draw when my work was finished. That way I could draw without distracting the other students.”
After graduation from the commercial art program at Tom P. Haney Vocational/Technical School in 1981, Ricky went to work as an airbrush artist on Panama City Beach. After about 15 years, he started painting fine art.
For the past 17 years he has created an abundance of artwork that has earned him numerous awards and led to quite a following. Until recently Ricky took to the road four or five times a month to participate in art shows. But more than selling his work, he enjoyed meeting people from all walks of life. It is what keeps him going, he says.
Not one wall in his Panama City home remains void of art. Many of the pieces are his creation, but there are several other paintings and pencil drawings from some of his favorite artists including Dean Mitchell, Sidney Carter, Art Jenkins, David Forward, and Patrick Reynolds. They are contemporaries he respects for their work.
Steele credits artist Arthur Dillard with helping him take his art to the next level as a fine artist. “When I first started painting fine art it was Arthur who helped me learn about the business of art,” Steele said. “I would go with him to art shows and see how it was done.”
Locally his work can be seen at Main Street Gallery in downtown Panama City or at the Panama City Centre for the Arts on Harrison Avenue. For the past five years he has designed the T-shirts for the Gulf Coast Jazz Society’s annual Jazz By the Bay. He maintains a website and Facebook page.
When he is not busy painting, Steele volunteers as a basketball coach at Rutherford High School and is often asked to be a motivational speaker at various community events. He enjoys working with the boys, especially those who don’t have a great relationship with their fathers. He feels a responsibility to help them become better men, not just basketball players.
“I’m blessed to be doing what I love every day,” he said. “I enjoy doing it and making a living at it. The Bible says he who has a friend must show himself friendly. It’s not about making money. It’s about making friends.”
Ricky Steele, Contact Info:
Home (850)769-9122; Cell (850) 258-6473
www.artbyrickysteele.com
artbyrickysteele@peoplepc.com
[author image=”https://www.panamacityliving.com/media/2014/07/Diane-Mercado.jpg” ]Diane Mercado Mouskourie worked as a technical illustrator and graphic designer for 15 years before earning a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from the University of South Florida. Before retiring and returning to Panama City in 2011, Diane spent more than 20 years working as a journalist and copy editor for daily newspapers in several places across the U.S. Through the course of her career she has interviewed people from all walks of life and written many personality profiles. Diane spends most of her time writing for various publications including Panama City Living magazine and enjoys painting, drawing and gardening.[/author]