Murray Unruh is an Artist and My Brother

Murray is one of my two younger brothers. Murray was born in St. Catharines in 1947 five years my junior and when we were young I was the one who expressed himself artistically. He was almost an adolescent before he received corrective lenses to improve his sight. He considers that to be his emergence into a new appreciation of a world of light, colour and definition. He began to pay attention to the beauty around him. I could not have imagined that in Murray’s adult years not only would he develop an interest in painting but he would become a fine and versatile artist with a keen appreciation for what makes a good picture. He lives in a beautiful agricultural area, the fruit and wine country of the Niagara district of Ontario. He has watched this growing vineyard industry and recorded with his brushes and paint. He has practiced his craft like many of us as a hobbyist for twenty five years. Scenery, still life and now lately, a venture into some abstract expressionism of spiritual themes. On his website he mentions a current series entitled “Metaphors for Life” which he envisions as seven distinct pieces and as they are being developed he will describe the process and themes.

He is a man of faith, Christian faith. Like me he too was a pastor for many years. Recently he has identified with a group of people seeking to launch an attractive Christian witness in downtown St. Catharines. It will be an open community with some appeal to friends in the art community. He is a facilitator now rather than a primary leader and he has been asked to establish an art gallery as an essential aspect of this gathering place. That interests me. I will look forward to hearing how the arts and Christian ministry cooperate.

During this new season of artistic ambition he is making his art available to others for viewing and purchase. I am proud of my brother. He is a friend to many people and a helper. In the last image that I display for you today Murray has recorded our father and Murray’s two sons when they were boys and the three of them visited the roaring water of the Niagara Gorge. Dad is gone now so this an evocative memory for our family.

His VINTAGE IMPRESSIONS Art by Murray Unruh website can show you his other work.

She Lives On - The Old Russian Woman

I have written about her before. This is the rest of the story. I left her behind. I couldn't take care of her. I didn't have room for her in my life. I hoped that someone else might take an interest in her and give her a home. But it was a faint hope, and frankly apart from looking at her picture in my computer files occasionally, I had forgotten her. I concluded that she was gone.

Before you castigate me for unfeeling cruelty to humanity and this woman in particular, permit me to hastily tell you that I am speaking about a 20X24 inch painting of an old Russian woman - a painting I painted forty years ago. I was twenty-two years of age and I needed a ride - wheels - transportation. My Uncle Les graciously swapped a 57 VW Beetle for this painting. The car took me to college, carried my new girlfriend on dates, and trips to my family to show her off - the girlfriend that is. Eventually I sold the car for $150 and accepted that both the car and the painting were history.

I graduated and began a career as a clergyman, pastoring four churches and CEO-ing one church denomination. Twenty years ago Christine and I made the move to British Columbia, leaving our extended families in Ontario and Quebec. In 1996 during one of my routine trips east, Uncle Les returned the painting to me, inscribing on its back that it should be passed on to my eldest son. Since I have only one son, Jeff was going to be the recipient. Considering that I had to fly back home and assuming that my son would have little interest in this large art piece, I left it with another Ontario family member who desired something that I had painted.

In 2007 the painting came into my hands once again, showing its age and some soiling. I didn't want to take her on my flight west and I was too nostalgic to give her up entirely so I tucked the painting behind my father's couch in his apartment - with his permission of course. When Dad died in May 2008 my brothers Murray and Neale, and I cleaned out the apartment. There was the Old Russian Woman. I made the difficult decision that I didn't want her. You might say I put her down - that is, I took her to the downstairs refuse room, propped her on the top of a garbage can and invited anyone who wanted her, to take her. If someone did, I hoped to receive a note letting me know, so I left my name, address, email, website and phone number. I heard nothing. She was gone.

Then this week, seventeen months after I turned the lights out behind me in the refuse room, I received an e-message from someone named Patrick in St. Catharines saying, "Hello, Mr. Unruh, Just wanted to let you know your painting, which you traded for a V.W. Beetle is at my home, won at the Christian Benefit Shop here in St. Catharines. Any possibility you may write some history regarding your painting for me? Have a Great Day, Pat."

So, someone saw her. Perhaps her happy, dancing eyes captured attention. Someone took her to a shop where she found a new caregiver. Imagine! I love this serendipity. It's the rest of the story. The Old Russian Woman lives on.

September 7th - A Day for Birthdays

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Ron Unruh Retirement Memoirs for this Posting