Jacqui Brown
When it comes to artistic works, one usually associates the creative
process with a steady hand. But when it comes to 43-year-old Roger
Cupples, whose hands and body shake like a wind-whipped Aspen tree in
Colorado, a steady hand might actually deter the structural effect of
his ceramic works of art.
"It's serendipity," Cupples said, proudly showing off some of his
finished pieces. "Sometimes a piece gets its shape by collapsing on
its own, sometimes I might accidentally hit it with my hand but
that's what makes each piece unique."
The array of ceramic sculptures he calls "vessels" will be on
display at his debut art show at the Creative Art Center in Burbank
beginning Friday evening. Joining him in this three-artist show will
be Lynn Gadal, whose watercolor paintings illuminates her perception
of solitude and adventure, and Nancy Goodman Lawrence, whose collage
work gives you a glimpse of her humor and creativity.
Cupples, who lives in North Hollywood, has spent the last 10 years
redefining his life after suffering severe head trauma in a car
accident on an icy Chicago street in December 1995 that left him with
secondary Parkinson's disease and other motor function disabilities.
After spending months in a hospital bed, undergoing surgeries to
repair eye damage and trying to learn how to cope with how his body
movements would forever disrupt his peacefulness, he realized he'd
never be able to return to the life he once knew. And that
realization hit hard.
"I spent a lot of years in sadness, in anger and denial because I
really didn't know what I could do or should do," Cupples said. "I'm
trying to live presently and in the future but sometimes it's
difficult not to live in the past remembering what my life used to be
like."
Life before the accident kept him very busy. He was a cook for a
catering company that served elegant dinners at private parties
across the Southland and worked at Q is for Quilts in Burbank where
his eye for color developed and his ability to create remarkable
quilts grew. Some of his quilted creations have made their way across
the country at a variety of shows.
"I probably would have been a wonderful quilter had I had a little
more time but I can't do it anymore," he said.
Cupples' shaking prevents him from sewing.
He also attended classes and taught children's ceramic classes at
the Creative Art Center during the last 15 years.
"I tried to go back to teaching children after the accident but I
