THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 12, 1995 TAG: 9505110148
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY PAM STARR, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
You can tell a lot about a couple by the way they keep house.
Fred and Jenny Metz's Great Neck waterfront home is impeccable inside and out, with well-tended landscapes and a beautifully decorated interior.
Then you get to the studio.
Finished pieces of art are stacked against each other on the floor and hang on the walls. Bottles of paint that have spilled over the edges and dried before reaching bottom sit on a paint-splattered table. Used brushes stand upright in an old coffee can. Pieces of wood lie in an informal pile on the drawing board next to the easel. It's impossible to walk a straight line more than two or three feet with all the stacks of old magazines and books everywhere.
This is obviously the room of an artist. Actually, it's the headquarters of two artists.
For the last 11 years, the couple has forged an artistic partnership which has been just as successful as their 36-year marriage. Fred pencil sketches and then constructs the 3-D nautical or country scenes and Jenny colors them with acrylic paint. He adds the finishing touches of netting and frames them.
``I think we complement each other,'' said Fred, 59, a retired Navy rear admiral and carrier pilot, as he showed one of their pieces. ``I think because the two of us do it, we're more creative. We feed off each other.''
The 3-D collage construction scenes are one-of-a-kind. After sketching the scene, Fred builds it with pieces of driftwood they collect each year in Seattle for that purpose.
The piece they just finished is of a white lighthouse and adjacent house sitting off a pier which leads to a rocky coast. That piece and other 3-D scenes traveled to Richmond with them last weekend for one of the 20-25 art shows they attend each year. Their works sell for between $30 and $400.
``We have a fairly good following,'' Fred said. `These pieces always sell. You can't reproduce them.
``The reason you don't find pieces like these is because it takes a long time.''
The free-spirited art world is a 360-degree turnaround from the traditional military life in which the Metzes lived and raised two children. The couple has been painting regularly for 25 years, although not always together. Fred taught himself how to create art by using his mechanical drawing skills and engineering training as an after-work hobby at first. Jenny is formally trained and has been painting most of her adult life.
``I really started painting seriously when we were living in Monterey, Calif.,'' said Jenny, 61. ``It was wonderful there. The scenery was so beautiful. You get inspired. Our first art show was in Monterey.''
The art shows they attend each year also serve as mini-vacations. They purposely did a show in Rochester, N.Y., one year, for example, so they could visit Niagara Falls. Jenny has never been to Michigan, so this year they signed up for a show there. Wherever they go, they take time to see the sights and explore the area.
``The fun of it for us is to travel and meet people,'' she said as she walked through her kitchen that is filled with Coke memorabilia (``We don't say the `P' word in this house,'' she said).
Added Fred, ``I just like talking to people about it (the 3-D art) at the shows. They say they've never seen anything like it.''
Fred and Jenny Metz don't limit themselves to just 3-D construction scenes. They make golf scenes for people who send them pictures of a certain course, such as Augusta National, and tailor it for that course.
Those cost $500.
They also draw likenesses of NASCAR drivers, just as a hobby, which sell for $300-$400 as collector editions.
``We could sell hundreds of them; we can't keep them around,'' said Fred with a wry grin. ``But it takes too long. We only do up to 10 a year.''
Starving artists they're not, but the Metzes emphasize that when you count up the hours worked, they don't really make much money for their craft.
Fred also volunteers at the Life-Saving Museum of Virginia and does consulting work.
``We thought we'd do this because you can't do nothing when you retire,'' Fred said, smiling. `We enjoy it and it's only gotten better. It's our second adventure.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Fred, 59, and Jenny Metz, 61, work in a small studio filled with
art, paint and splattered accessories. For the last 11 years, the
couple has forged an artistic partnership, specializing in 3-D
nautical or country scenes.
Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
``We thought we'd do this because you can't do nothing when you
retire,'' says Fred Metz of his and wife Jenny's art career. ``We
enjoy it and it's only gotten better. It's our second adventure.''
by CNB