14 minute read
ART Justin Gaffrey
expression FEB/MAR 2021
CREATIVE WORKS LAND ON PAGES, CANVASES AND STAGES
ART
ESOTERIC LEANINGS
Justin Gaffrey grants himself expanded artistic license ↓
by WYNN PARKS
↗ Justin Gaffrey is well-established on the Emerald Coast, so much so that his artworks are touted as selling points when Gulf-front manses in the area go on the market.
↗ A former studio assistant labeled a chair “Mr. Rogers,” believing in Gaffrey’s dream that he would one day move into a big studio and each morning arrive and, ala Rogers, slip into his comfortable painting shoes.
Since 2001, when Justin Gaffrey got his calling as an artist, his signature on a painting has become the sine qua non imprimatur of an exaggerated painting style with the visual appeal — primary colors and decorative piping — of lavish confections.
These days, Gaffrey paintings are cited as selling points in descriptions of luxury homes for sale. Along the Emerald Coast, his creations, both paintings and sculptures, are priced between $3,000 and $11,000.
Born in New Jersey in 1970, Gaffrey moved to South Florida as a boy.
Gaffrey attributes his success on the art scene to his work ethic, like a surfboard on 30A’s tsunami of gentrification.
Gaffrey opened his business as a leap of faith. In the early days, he lived, painted and exhibited his work in a storefront gallery near Seaside.
By virtue of Gaffrey’s Horatio Alger spirit, he has since added an industrial scale studio — a proper Florentine Renaissance workshop containing separate units for wood and metal work, pigment grinding, paint mixing, plus digital workstations and a photography setup.
Except for five or six employees, including a son and daughter, it’s a veritable Fortress of Solitude where the artist can focus, uninterrupted, on the creative process. Then, it’s on to the production line where birch panels and acrylic paint get transmuted into interior decorating gold.
Gaffrey’s is a burgeoning legacy, for sure. Consider that not even Michelangelo, for all the Medici family’s patronage, had a billboard north of Choctawhatchee Bay on Highway 331, with a picture of him tossing a bucket of paint onto a picture panel.
Gaffrey has now begun producing his own eponymous brand of art supplies, its most symbolic item being the Gaffrey line
← Gaffrey’s daughter Aria works in the family business, filling orders for paints made on-site. ↑In an artistic touch, packages of paints are hand stenciled.
of art paints, packaged in cone-shaped plastic bags. If instead of being filled with acrylic paint, these bags were filled with sheet-cake frosting, one could snip off the pointy end, squeeze, and voila, decorate a cupcake!
Gaffrey’s oeuvre would seem to fall into the art brut genre. His approach to the paint itself is based on the impasto technique, characterized by smearing colors onto a prepared surface, traditionally with the flexible blade of a palette knife. Or in Gaffrey’s case, by gobbing on three-dimensional rosettes and arabesques with a piping bag and taking the impasto technique to an extreme somewhere between baroque and bizarre.
It’s surprising that Gaffrey’s specialty as a chef was not pastry but seafood. The luscious, sculpted slathering of acrylic paint, would, as butter frosting, assuredly set the hearts of birthday boys and girls racing in hyperglycemic joy!
About what sparked his switch from kitchen to studio, Gaffrey said, “As a chef, I was already painting a little. Really into Van Gogh! One day, I decided to do a rendition of ‘Sunflowers,’ and it had hardly dried before somebody bought it for way more per hour than I would ever have made cooking!”
Gaffrey’s 3-D paintings come forth from the surface of the painting somewhat ominously in a manner reminiscent of sci-fi video productions that invade the viewer’s world. While a major portion of Gaffrey’s paintings tend toward the strictly decorative — coastal landscapes, floral fantasies — there is, in others, a creeping sense of surrealism in their dream-like images: a lady plummeting downward toward a bowl of gigantic grapes; a dog about to smash into a wedge of watermelon; a deer, ankle-deep in an idealized coastal pond, with roosters perched on its antlers.
Gaffrey views those surreal leanings as an evolving interest toward which his aesthetic compass is swinging.
At that point, a UPS truck arrives, and Gaffrey goes to see to a shipment of art stuff. He gets real busy, and the question goes unanswered. EC
Nelson Pays Tribute to Rockin’ Father
Nostalgic multimedia performance presents story of Ricky Nelson, who ‘grew up in front of everyone’
Matthew and Gunnar Nelson, sons of a famous heartthrob, were irritated.
Their celebrity dad, early rocker Ricky Nelson, had come in off the road and agreed to take the boys to see Star Wars. Ricky stopped at a grocery store to pick up some smokes and was approached in an aisle by a fan.
Recalls Matthew: “My dad started talking to him, and Gunnar and I were harrumphing, and my dad gave us a look. He talked to that man for 25 minutes, and then he knelt in front of us and told us, ‘I had never seen that man before and I will never see him again, but he had probably waited a long time to meet me, and talking to him is part of my job. He is our livelihood, he is our priority, and if you ever do what I do, I want you to remember that.’”
In February, the brothers, known as Nelson, will present “Ricky Nelson Remembered,” a multimedia tribute to their father, his music and the mark he left on the world. The brothers will play Ricky Nelson’s greatest hits and some of their own, accompanied by footage of “one of the most video chronicled men of all time,” Matthew said, “someone who grew up from ‘Ozzie and Harriet’ to ‘Garden Party’ in front of everyone.”
Too, the show includes interviews of people who spoke about Ricky.
Ricky’s father Ozzie wrote, produced, directed and edited, “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” which aired for 14 years beginning in 1952, 435 episodes in total. Ozzie Nelson believed that TV was a fad and assumed he’d go back to life as a bandleader after it faded to black. Harriet was a singer, and “Little Ricky” made numerous appearances on the sitcom.
Ozzie Nelson, Ricky Nelson and the Nelsons all have had No. 1 hits on the Billboard charts.
He recalled a visit made by Gunnar’s girlfriend to a house that the boys shared with Ricky.
Matthew said “Ricky Nelson Remembered” puts his father’s music in a historical and personal context. It concludes with “Just Once More,” a song by the Nelsons about loss.
If Matthew had the chance to speak with his father just once more, what would he say?
And, he undoubtedly would introduce Ricky to his namesake Ozzie, age 6, Matthew’s son and a future musician who has been banging drums for three years.
Music, said Matthew, is divine, proof of God.
See Nelson live
Nelson will perform “Ricky Nelson Remembered” on Monday, Feb. 23, 2021, at 7:30 p.m. at The Moon in Tallahassee.
Tickets, ranging in price from $45 to $60, are available at OpeningNights.fsu.edu or call (850) 644-7670. For information on all Opening Nights Events, visit OpeningNights.fsu.edu/events.
OPENING NIGHTS AT FSU 222 S. COPELAND ST. | (850) 644-7670 | OPENINGNIGHTS.FSU.EDU/EVENTS
WOMEN’S
PROFESSIONAL PROFILES
March is Women’s History Month, which is dedicated to honoring women and encouraging the study and celebration of the vital roles they have played in America’s economic, political and social history. In this edition, Emerald Coast Magazine presents Women’s Professional Profiles featuring individuals who are making important impacts on the Emerald Coast region. These women represent diverse careers, interests, talents and lifestyles, but all have emerged as leaders. Talented, passionate, determined and charismatic, they are bettering their industries and communities. Read on to discover the inspirational stories of these truly wonderful women.
PROFESSIONAL PROFILES
The Junior League of the Emerald Coast
The Junior League of the Emerald Coast has long been united under the tenet of volunteerism. While each woman differs in where they’ve come from and where they are currently in life, they join together to assist their Emerald Coast community.
“The Emerald Coast area is so diverse and spread out, but our common goals bring a lot of different women together through volunteerism and leadership opportunities,” said Ann Foster, president of the JLEC.
While 2020 limited the ability to meet in person, the JLEC rose to the occasion, adapting their meetings, training, volunteering and fundraising efforts. Even when physically separate, the league remained true to their mission of service.
The JLEC’s biggest yearly project is the Child Clothing Project, which provides clothing for over 400 children in Okaloosa and Walton counties. These students in need are driven to a local Target to select a new wardrobe and then have a pizza party. As a result of the pandemic, the latest event
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was not in person, but the children still received clothing.
The Child Clothing Project expanded into a yearlong way of giving back by placing Child Clothing Closets in seven schools. If a child comes to school with holes in their clothing, needs a jacket in the winter or just lacks clothes in general, a teacher or guidance counselor discreetly takes the child to the closet to select new clothes.
“I think the best part of every year is getting to see the excitement on each child’s face as they experience moments that we often take for granted — such as crossing over the bridge to Target and seeing the beach for the first time or the joy of receiving a new pair of shoes,” said Foster. “Witnessing that what we do truly makes a difference is what keeps us going.”
Community members can become involved by giving funds online or becoming a member of the JLEC. One of Foster’s many goals as president has been making the league accessible to all by catering to individual schedules, encouraging flexibility, creating an inclusive space, and increasing access to leadership opportunities.
Each member of the JLEC aims to promote volunteerism, develop their strengths and potential, and improve their communities through effective action and the leadership efforts of trained volunteers.
“Being a smaller chapter, we are really able to invest in our members by providing leadership training, networking opportunities and partnering with other nonprofits,” said Foster. “The JLEC allows you to learn new things while growing the strengths you already have. Our involvement stems from the goal of continuously improving our community, and then we end up building deep friendships while we serve.” Ann Foster, president of the JLEC
PROFESSIONAL PROFILES
Jasmine Rizzuto
Project: STYLE Salon and Spa
At 10 years old, Jasmine Rizzuto gave her first hair cut. That first client was her grandmother. Rizzuto can’t recall the reason why her grandmother couldn’t make it to the salon, but she remembers the feeling of scissors in her hands — and the feeling of being trusted by her grandmother with an important task.
Rizzuto has been doing hair professionally for 15 years, and in 2012 she opened her salon Project Style Salon and Spa in Panama City Beach. The salon offers cuts, colors, styling and treatments, and the spa specializes in makeup, waxing and massages — all provided by eight licensed professionals.
Rizzuto holds education in the highest regard and believes that sets her salon apart. Each year, she attends hair shows and conferences; multiple times throughout the year, educators come into the salon and train the staff on new techniques for cutting, coloring and styling. With the presence of COVID-19, the staff has still made training a priority by attending online classes.
“Education and attention to detail are vital to my business, and those aspects ensure each client has the best possible experience,” said Rizzuto. “I work very hard to do my research in order to offer the best products — products I trust and believe in because that’s what my clients deserve.”
At the heart of it all, Rizzuto loves her career because she gets to inspire confidence in each person that visits the salon. With that confidence, she also ensures that each client feels comfortable — whether that is going the extra mile to understand what the client wants, providing a welcoming environment or adhering to all COVID-19 standards.
“From start to finish, the entire salon experience should make my clients feel comfortable and confident because confidence is the most important thing one can wear,” said Rizzuto. “When we feel good about ourselves, that goodness projects out into the world.”
When she isn’t behind the chair, she enjoys cooking (she holds a culinary degree), quilting, playing soccer and spending time with her family.
“I’m most proud of being a working mom who maintains a business that provides income for other women,” said Rizzuto. “I believe women who work hard toward their goals and do so with good intentions can have a successful career without sacrificing a happy family life. It can all coexist!”
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Regina K. Jaquess, Pharm.D.
Emerald Coast Compounding Pharmacy
What do pharmacy and water skiing have in common? Regina Jaquess has a passion for both. While the commonalities might stop there, these are two halves of Jaquess’ life that make her whole.
She has long called Santa Rosa Beach home, growing up in and on the water. For undergraduate and pharmacy school, Regina attended the University of Louisiana–Monroe. There were three reasons for attending: her sister Renee was already at school there, the pharmacy program was prestigious — and the campus had a water ski team dynasty. The sisters won six college nationals together.
Upon graduation, Jaquess opened her own pharmacy — Emerald Coast Compounding Pharmacy. The company addresses a range of medical concerns, including anti-aging, bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, dental, dermatology, gastroenterology, infertility, pain management, pediatric, podiatry, sports medicine and veterinary.
“One of the things I’m proudest of and thankful for is coming home to Santa Rosa Beach and being able to open my own pharmacy here where I can personally interact with all of the clients and doctors,” said Jaquess. “Because my pharmacy is so personal and community-centric, I really get to know what works best for each patient and work with them to achieve their prime health.”
Jaquess caters to a triage relationship, in which the patient, doctor and pharmacist all communicate in order to fulfill the patients’ health needs.
In 2020, this communication proved especially important as patient safety and health was of the highest priority. The business has remained open throughout the pandemic, expanding to offer curbside services.
“This past year, with COVID concerns, it became all the more apparent that patients are the primary and most important focus,” said Jaquess.
The commitment to excellence is apparent in another win for Best Pharmacy at the 2020 Best of the Emerald Coast awards, an award the pharmacy has received every year since 2016.
Where her pharmacy is thriving, Jaquess is also making major waves in the world of competitive water skiing. She holds 13 world records, 10 world championship titles and countless international and professional wins.
“These two parts of my life are totally separate but entwined because of my incredible support system,” said Jaquess. “My family, my friends, my pharmacy team and my ski sponsors are so supportive of both roles. I am grateful to those that got me to this level because I wouldn’t be where I am without them.”
