Page 21 - the NOISE June 2012

CONTINUED FROM 19
I flung myself to the floor and righted the spilled jar, and began scooping up handfuls of goo and pouring them back inside, desperately trying to ignore the house plant leaves I picked up with it.
This effort exhausted, I did the next logical thing. I took handfuls of play- ing cards and smeared them all over the floor until they were sufficiently coated with Mod Podge and slapped them down onto the board.
I grabbed the mop and cleaned the residue of the spill, looking dismally at my skirt. I took up my paintbrush and begin wiping the mess from my skirt and painting onto the board, before dumping the saturated material into the washing machine.
Then I looked down at the very inter- pretive layout of cards in front of me.
Though it took a lot less time than anticipated, over all, despite the smat- tering of leaves and bits of potting soil, the desired effect was mostly achieved.
REMEMBERING VTARA
On June 17, 2012 a painter and friend of mine Vtara (Victoria) Ruscher passed on from this life.
I’ve been blessed to have known Vtara since I was a child, and it’s been hard to imagine a time when she would no longer be there to share her wisdom, her art, and her wonderful self. She loved to paint things from nature, cre- ating art which she displayed around town. I feel lucky to have called her my friend, to have shared her company over countless coffees and conversations.
Vtara was first diagnosed with cancer in 2008. For her it completely changed her outlook on life. “I never for one mo- ment forget,” she told me two years ago,
and I think it bears repeating, “I have received a gift. The gift of remember- ing to stay present, of opening to more than I was before. I once told a friend that before cancer I did not truly know how to love or to be a true friend.”
What I loved about the way she paint- ed was the way her spirit is apparent in every brush stroke, in every leaf. Where once she used to try to copy a photo and make it reappear on canvas, after being diagnosed with cancer the first time and being blessed with a remis- sion, she allowed her art to lead her. It was healing, freeing and her contribu- tion to the community.
During her remission she and her husband Chuck Ruscher participated in the 2010 Flagstaff Open studios, open- ing their home to share her art and his photography. In the months that fol- lowed she showed her artwork at other local venues.
It was with sadness that I learned her cancer had come back. Every now and then I would drive her down Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona where she received her treatments, and she would wait pa- tiently as the chemo entered her body to drive out the cancer.
It was April 13 when Vtara told us she had received the prognosis that she had weeks left to live. It’s strange, to say the least, when your friend tells you some- thing like that. When I saw her just a few days later she looked as she has al- ways looked, strong and vibrant despite fighting the cancer that had returned after the brief remission. We stood in a room of her house, Vtara, my mother Percilla, and I, with a quiet in the room that seemed full of questions, but none of us wanting to bring it up. But I know when I hugged her that day I held her
longer than usual.
Recently, in the weeks that followed
the prognosis given, she gave herself fully to life, spending time with her hus- band Chuck, her daughter Kristine, her son Joe and grandson Rhys. Her mother, brothers and sisters traveled by night to spend time with her.
Thanks to so many friends and com- munity members, Vtara and her fam- ily where able to move into their new home that they had just purchased, and to remodel it in time to enjoy the space with her husband and children settled together. Her husband Chuck worked diligently and lovingly to make their home comfortable and just the way they imagined.
When Percilla and I would come over to visit she took pride in showing us their new home. On the days she felt well enough we’d pile into our car and go to the art store or to coffee. One of these days happened to fall when the solar eclipse was happening, and as we drank our coffee we experienced the magic of the strange light cast on every surface as the moon passed over the sun.
She gracefully moved through the first weeks of summer, accepting, and so full of love. She took those weeks they said she had left and transformed them into two precious months before leaving.
She is missed. She is loved. Her spirit still shines through the leaves in the trees and the scales of the mermaids’ tails she’s painted.
| Have art? arts@thenoise.us
Artist Vtara Ruscher, above, will be remembered.
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news magazine • JULY 2012 • 21