Collector Story - Rita Newoman
Rita Newoman, For the Love of Art
“I had to have it.”
Rita Newoman at home with her oil painting by Maria De Los Angeles
Life is an adventure for Rita Newoman, and her art collection reflects her eclectic, energetic and creative life story.
Every inch of Rita’s home reflects her expressive personality and ingenuity. I pulled up to her tidy suburban home, painted a clean white with black trim. Rita opened the red door and stepped out wearing a crisp white linen shirt, brick red pants and stylish glasses with black trim. Rita’s sharp eyes know how to spot beautiful treasures – from her giant jar of agates found on the beach to oriental rugs, oil paintings, small sculptures, encaustic, and ceramics.
I was there to measure and plan for delivery of her latest acquisition – my painting Nocturne with Wolf. During the visit I asked Rita to show -and-tell about her art collection, which led to stories about her life, as her pieces hold many memories. A collection of treasures she’s discovered in artist studios, galleries, taking classes, teaching, shopping at estate sales, thrifting etc., the thread that unites the collection is that when she saw each piece she said to herself, “I have to have it.”
She feels emotions deeply, never holding back. An artist herself, Rita showed me two portraits she painted in oil, collages, assemblage and a ceramic sculpture – each in a different media, all with genuine artistic merit.
Like the variety of media Rita has experimented with to create art, her collection contains a wide variety of media and subjects. From geometric abstraction to a huge tree full of fairies, to a painted mosaic of birds, to landscapes of her former home in California. Somehow, every piece fits together. Upon years of reflection Rita says, “I realized that I am the connection. If I love something, it will connect.” Her color palette is broad, encompasses nearly every color of the rainbow, but emphasizes blue, red and gold.
I asked she thinks it takes courage to collect art. She said “No, not at all.” Collecting art, like jumping into a new career or taking an impromptu trip to Europe, is instinctual for her.
“Buying art is like falling in love over and over again,” she said. “It doesn’t work that way with men, but it sure does with art!”
Rita’s careers and passions include airline stewardess, special ed teacher and program developer, event coordinator, colon hydro therapist, aesthetician, art museum receptionist - just to name a few.
Rita discovered late in life she has ADHD, “That explained ALOT,” she said. She also has dyscalculia – difficulties with numbers and math - in contrast to her former husband and current friend, Eugene, a nuclear engineer. She says back when they were married and he had a pager, he’d know it was Rita paging if he got a text with random numbers.
Cody Dog in guest room with art pieces by
French Lithographs that started her collecting art.
Rita Newoman with oil painting by Maria De Los Angeles
An art collection reveals so much about the collector. The identity, aspirations, imagination and passions all come into focus. Collecting art is a way to explore unknowns in ourselves too. Why are you drawn to this? What catches you and can’t let you go?
Art collecting is for anyone. If you are a visual person, surrounding yourself with art that moves you can be a path to self-discovery as much as self-expression. It’s sometimes surprising when something grabs your heart!