Seabrook	UPDATED: Friday, October 06, 2006
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Creative Escape

Posted on Sunday, October 01, 2006

Artists Escape From Traditional Careers

By Julia Boyle
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Thick, rich, deep colored globs of oil paints dot a palette. Paint brushes rest upright, for now, snug in an old tin can. A few photographs scatter the sunlit workspace. Clipped to an easel, the same image as in the photographs—a bishop dressed in traditional vestments— starts to take shape as a sketch that lays the ground work for a painted portrait.

Down the art-scattered hall, another workspace houses a large table, a dusty box of pastels, and a few more works-in-progress. A mirror hangs on the wall. “The mirrors are very important because you can see mistakes by reversing what you’ve done. You get an entirely different viewpoint,” says Fran McIlvain, a lifelong artist and teacher of watercolor, collage, pastels, and acrylic paints.

A Thinker and a Rebel
A different viewpoint helped Mrs. McIlvain pursue her passion for art at a time when artist was not a career option for most women. “When I graduated high school, if women went to college they didn’t have many choices. You could be a teacher, a secretary, or a nurse,” she says. When her father nixed nursing and she scratched secretary school, she got creative.

“My strong point had always been artwork, so I suggested I become an art teacher and my father said ‘yes!’ she says triumphantly.

McIlvain attended Temple University’s Tyler School for Fine Arts where she met her husband Doug. His path was not as wellpaved as his wife’s.

“I became an artist partly out of rebellion from my strict father. He wanted me to be either an engineer or a surgeon, not an artist,” he says.

“It was the time of the GI Bill, so he could be independent for the first time in his life,” McIlvain says of her husband’s decision to escape to art rather than be stuck in a career chosen for him.

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As a result, his work involves almost any medium. “I mostly sculpted before, but since we moved to Seabrook I have been painting with oils,” he says. Currently, he is working on the portrait of a Catholic bishop, but his wooden and stone sculptures decorate the halls, conference rooms, and restaurants of their community.

They have decorated their apartment with their work as well. “You can see how differently we work when you look around our home,” Mrs. McIlvain says.

“The colors show more sensitivity in her work,” Mr. McIlvain points out when comparing his wife’s watercolor of a landscape with his oil of a Florida scene. Travel influences much of their work. “As teachers, we’re continually exploring new ways of doing things in our travels—new textures, techniques, materials,” he says.

Painting Passion
Travel inspires pastime painter, Carmel Dinnebeil, who says she would rather paint than eat. “I love the beach, and sometimes I go to Ocean Grove, a beach community near Seabrook, to paint,” she says. “I also used to get ideas when we traveled to Maine.”

From copies of Monets—one of her favorite painters—to her own inspired creations, Dinnebeil’s passion for painting stands out when looking around her home. Like the McIlvains, she has also decorated her walls with oils and acrylics.

Unlike the McIlvains, Dinnebeil entered a more traditional profession as a means to learn more about art; she became a secretary for a New York City designer. “You had to be a secretary to get your foot in the door, so that’s what I did,” she reveals.

“Working for a designer was a lot of fun and I learned a lot about decorating, which I also love to do and is related to my interest in art.”

Because painting was not her profession, Dinnebeil stressed devotion and discipline as keys to keeping her skills fresh. “When my children were small I devoted 15 minutes a day while they were napping,” she says. “Now that I’m at Seabrook, even though there are so many other activities that I’m involved in, I have decided to devote two hours a day to painting.”

Novice Artist Opportunities
For people who have always wanted to try their hand at a new creative hobby and now have the time to finally pursue it, many painting classes are available in and around Tinton Falls. The McIlvains teach drawing, watercolor, and oil painting classes at Seabrook, as well as with SCAN (Senior Citizens Activity Network) in Monmouth Mall.

Both the Leslie Art Studio at the Jersey Shore Arts Center and the Art Alliance of Monmouth County offer a variety of classes, and Monmouth University opens its doors to county residents each summer. The Monmouth Arts Council is also an excellent resource for learning about classes, exhibits, and other art events in the area.

Check out www.ericksontribune. com for links to the websites of these organizations. Click on “Community News,” then “Seabrook—Tinton Falls.”