Today we’d like to introduce you to John Rufo.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I’ve always loved to draw. It came naturally to me as a kid. I drew birds and buildings. My dad was an engineer who occasionally designed buildings, including the house I grew up in in Waltham. My sister went to RISD to study architecture and when I visited her there in the early 80’s I became hooked on the idea of designing. I went to RISD too, studied architecture here and in Rome and honestly, just loved my 5 years there. Drawing was my absolute favorite thing to do.
As my architecture career progressed I became really interested in painting and making 2-dimensional fine art. My wife, who is also a RISD grade, was often painting in her spare time and I was very curious to try it. I started with pastel drawings and eventually worked my way into painting with oils. We launched RufoArt about ten years ago as a platform for talking about and marketing our art and design services. We both work full time. She is an art teacher at Ursuline Academy in Dedham and I am a partner in an architectural practice in Newton that we launched in 2011.
Please tell us about your art.
I began to get interested in painting mostly through noticing the influence of the New England landscape on my psyche. Getting away to the shore and other places where you can feel the passage of time and the presence of planet has a regenerative and grounding effect on me. I find this inspires a need in me to interpret what I see through drawing and painting. It’s not that I paint only landscapes, but it is definitely an entrance point for me. Even when I work on still lifes or figures, I really tend to think of them in terms of space and place. This also works its way into my architectural practice which is called Form + Place.
Because of my roots in architecture, training as a draughtsman and a childhood spent drawing, using a paint brush at first did not come naturally to me, so I found using a palette knife and drawing into paintings to be a more suitable way to work. Now I am constantly searching for the perfect surface to draw and paint on at the same time. I end up working on gesso board a lot. I love the variety of precise and also messy surfaces that I can build up over time.
I believe the things that speak to people who encounter my work are the sense of light, composition and the familiarity or association with the subject. If a piece really works, it’s usually because the light and composition are working well together. The effect of the subject itself is less knowable but maybe more important in some ways. We are learning more and more these days about how feelings and strong associations, spurred on by memory, play a key role in our decision making and our ability to be present amongst the noise and distraction of daily life. My work is successful if it allows in the viewer to access an emotional state that provides them with presence.
The thing to know about my artwork is it is one manifestation of a daily practice of living that is trying to be conscious and fully present. Several years ago, I suffered a back injury that was brought on by stress. As a result, my wife and I began a daily practice of meditation and tai chi as a way of calming ourselves, quieting the noise in our heads and regaining control of our response to daily stress. Making art is a key piece of this daily practice as well. In the same way that I can’t imagine beginning the day without meditation, I can’t imagine getting through the day without actively creating and visualizing ideas that serve both my architectural clients as well as the would-be observers of my drawings and paintings.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
Gosh there are so many… In certain ways the many on-line / social media outlets make it easier than ever to get your work and message out there. However, distinguishing your work from the rest of the noise is tricky so you need to be consistent about making art and getting it represented in the world. Coupling that with balancing a home life and a work life is very challenging. I need to earn a living, be a husband and a father, run my architectural practice etc.… It gets back to trying to be present for myself and the ones I love. It’s a challenge that seems to work best for me as a daily practice where everything is conceived of as purposefully working together.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My work can be seen on the RufoArt website, on my Instagram account, on my twitter feed and in galleries. If you follow me on Instagram and Twitter as well as sign up for the RufoArt newsletter through our website, you’ll be kept up to date on our happenings and events. We promise not to spam you. We try to get the newsletter out once a month, sometimes more frequently if we have a lot going on. I often submit and show works at various galleries in Boston’s SOWA district and in galleries around New England and easiest to find out about those through our newsletter.
Page Waterman Gallery in Wellesley, MA – http://pagewaterman.com/
Studio Hop in Providence, RI – http://studiohopri.com/
Summer House Furnishings in Rye, NH – http://summerhousefurnishings.com/
Masterpiece Gallery at the Boston Design Center – https://www.masterpieceframing.com/
My blog http://rufoart.net/jrufoart/ is a place where I’ve been experimenting combining words and images. I have a real interest in poetry… so I’m wading in a little as words bubble to the surface and I connect them to my visual process.
Contact Info:
- Website: rufoart.net
- Email: jrufo@formandplace.com
- Instagram: @johnmrufo
- Twitter: @jrufo_john
Image Credit:
All images by RufoArt
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