After Villages Arts Association president, Frank Zampardi, welcomed a large, colorfully attired, crowd back for the VAA’s fall season — and upcoming events were announced — a one-of-a-kind individual captured the audiences rapt attention.
Rob Smith Jr. is billed as a caricature artist extraordinaire, a political satirist, editorial cartoonist, talented illustrator and Florida historian. He is all of these things, and he does them all well.
The curiously garbed, well known and admittedly hyperactive, Florida-born gent spoke, with arms flying in punctuating gestures, moving from one side of the room at La Hacienda Recreation Center to the other Friday afternoon, spouting wisdom, one-liners and Florida anecdotes — all while quickly drawing several cartoons on his easel.
The audience had smiles on their faces as they listened intently to the fact-filled stories and quick-fire quips Smith offered.
Smith brought along his small, furry sidekick — a ‘swamp ape’ called ‘Swampy,’ and described him as his ‘watermark.’ “You are all artists,” Smith told the audience, “and art enthusiasts. Y’all need a watermark, because there is no such thing as a copyright now. Once your work is on the Internet, anyone can use it and you lose control. ‘Swampy’ is my watermark. You will find him in just about every photograph taken of my work — and I also include him in photographs of the many places I go — just to remind me where I was and prove that I was there.”
Before art, philosophy and politics were Smith’s passions. “I like mental calisthenics and improv, and I don’t like making plans,” Smith revealed. He enjoys traveling all over Florida to art festivals and events, and eschews chain restaurants to meet local people and patronize local businesses.
“It would drive me crazy to sit in front of a canvas and draw or paint slowly,” Smith said. “I draw everything very fast. We have to know our own strengths and weaknesses and capitalize on them.”
“I am a free-lance cartoonist, and my business stinks — it’s declining. Whatever magazines and newspapers are left are dropping their cartoons and illustrations. Photography and computer-generated art are ‘in’ today, and much of it is about sex and violence. To make it in the art world today,” Smith commented, “you have to be multi-faceted and work very hard.”
Smith loves to draw nature, and be outdoors. He urged audience members to get away from The Villages now and then — to go to open spaces where there is no concrete or asphalt. “There are so many beautiful undeveloped acres of greenery, water and wildlife in Florida,” he said. “Get out there and take pictures of birds and flowers to use as ideas for your drawings and paintings.”
A living breathing encyclopedia of Florida points of interest and history, he mentioned favorite parks and restaurants from South Florida, to this area, and even up to the Panhandle. “September 27 is National Public Land Day, when all the parks that charge a fee will be free. Pick one and go out and enjoy it,” Smith recommended.
He enjoys the Santos Trailhead land preserve, straight up U.S. Hwy. 441 north of The Villages. For many years, there were plans to build a land bridge across Florida from the Pacific to the Atlantic. Marjorie Harris Carr was a strong advocate for a Cross-Florida Greenway land bridge. People also talked about a Florida barge canal. “It’s a good thing President Nixon killed the canal idea — otherwise The Villages might not be here, and it would be dirty and noisy and — just not the same,” he added.
Smith loves Bok Tower, Brevard County and Panhandle parks and beaches. “There are many military bases up there near Pensacola, and if you throw a stone, you’ll very likely hit a State Park,” he quipped. “The more there are humans, the less there are birds. Birds don’t do well with pavement. They need good food sources.”
Born in Orlando in 1963, Smith began drawing caricatures at the theme parks while still in high school. He attended the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, the Rubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Arts in Dover, New Jersey, and Rollins College in Winter Park. He was hired in 1985 as a draftsman and artist, and pursues a very successful free-lance career today.
VAA member, Village of Santiago resident Helen Poor, and Doree Voychick, who lives in Village Pennecamp, described the club’s fall Pumpkin Project, where unique artificial and faux pumpkins made by members are sold to fund scholarships for tri-county art students pursuing fine arts majors in college. ” Since we began, we raised over $70,000,” Poor said proudly.
Village of Del Mar resident, Joal Litavsky, wants to fill a few remaining seats for a Maitland bus trip Oct. 5. Members speak positively about Joal’s art-oriented trips, arranged two or more times each year. The 1937 Maitland Art Center building, in Aztec and Mayan style, is on the National Historic Register and houses a Spanish art exhibit. A docent will lead the group through the museum, and members will make tracings of the embossed carvings from the building’s exterior. After lunch, the group will enjoy a large outdoor ’boutique art show’ around Lake Louis.
Consult the group’s website: villagesartassociation.com for many other upcoming events.
