THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 13, 1995 TAG: 9510110170
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Ida Kay's Portsmouth
SOURCE: Ida Kay Jordan
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
M.R. ``Spike'' Splichal was a character - sometimes gruff, but a very nice man.
When he died Friday night, Spike left a vacancy in this city that won't be filled any time soon - maybe never.
Spike was one of those special people who honed in on Portsmouth and never let go. He was a wonderful ambassador for the city as he traveled across the country to show and sell his art.
His whimsical clay creations are his tangible legacy to the world. Those of us who own one or more of his miniature sculptures are lucky people. We can enjoy his work every day.
We will remember a man who became an artist after he completed several other careers in life. He did what a lot of others dream of doing but never get around to.
After two decades in the Navy, a second career in electronics at the shipyard and finally a stint as a curator at the Portsmouth Lightship museum, Spike found another side of himself as a full-time artist.
He did not merely dabble in art. He went full steam ahead into a new field that, in fact, became his path to immortality on Earth. Hundreds of pieces of his work found homes all over the United State and around the world.
He was always proud of a sale to a collector and especially proud when that person came back to buy another piece.
But the most wonderful facet of Spike's personality was the pleasure he took in showing his work to anybody who would listen. He loved to point out the details he built into his scenes of times gone by. How those masculine hands of his could manage to form such tiny clay parts for these creations, I never understood - not even after I was privileged to watch him work.
Spike's failing health meant giving up the meticulous miniatures and moving to something a little less arduous. However, his later clay pieces imitating Picasso and other 20th century artists were wonderful works of art on their own.
He frequently won prizes in art shows. But, as was written by the family in his obituary, Spike's proudest moment came when he won the big, best-in-show prize at the Seawall Art Show in 1990.
So far as I know, he had not missed a single Seawall Art Show since he took up art about 20 years ago. And for many of those years, he served on the show's volunteer committee, sometimes as chairman.
He and his wife of 50 years, Ruth, stuck by the show even when others grew tired of the work. Until a few years ago, they helped get the show together and set it up on the waterfront.
In recent years, both Spike and Ruth pulled back because of ill health, but there never was a Seawall Art Show without them. Ruth has blossomed as an artist herself and last year captured one of the major awards with her collages.
The show last May was Spike's final outdoor exhibition. He knew that he probably would not be back in '96.
We'll miss his overalls and his bandana, his straw hat and, most of all, his friendly greetings at art shows. They made him a character you wouldn't forget. While that was good marketing strategy, I think his public demeanor was pretty close to the real Spike.
Like Mayor Gloria Webb and Ron Speer, former Portsmouth editor of The Virginian-Pilot, Spike came from Nebraska. He was proud of his roots in the Midwest, where he was born in 1920.
But he was fiercely loyal to this city, his adopted home for many years. He did Portsmouth proud wherever he displayed his work.
We all have lost a good friend.
Every time we lose one of the many people who gravitated to Portsmouth and loved it, we all should make a conscious effort to look with new eyes upon this much maligned city.
Whatever else people want to say about it, Portsmouth is a wonderful community with plenty of opportunities. Spike took advantage of them all, including art classes that taught him to use the great creative ability he possessed.
In Portsmouth, Spike lived a happy, creative life open to all of us who will open our eyes and see the world around us. by CNB