Riverside painter inspired by trips to Africa

At this stage in her life, recent retiree Estelle Shay said she is surprised to find such satisfaction out of exploring her artistic instincts as a painter.

"In the past, I've always been afraid to try and fail, and that has kept me from drawing or painting on a more regular basis," the longtime Riverside resident said.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Shay and her sister would spend their summers doing such creative things as beading, weaving, playing with modeling clay and making dioramas. She remembers loving her John Nagy art set and meticulously following the step-by-step instructions to complete the charcoal drawings.

It was not art, however, that Shay would embrace as she grew up. She acted while in high school and college, then studied theater in graduate school. After settling in Riverside in 1978, she became involved with Riverside Community Players, performing and serving on the board of directors.

One of Estelle Shay's works, inspired by her many trips to Africa. (Photo courtesy of Estelle Shay)

"It wasn't until after I stopped doing theater that I sort of rediscovered my love of drawing and painting," she said.

Shay experimented with different art forms by taking classes at the UC Riverside and the Riverside Art Museum. But she said she found it difficult to stay motivated while working full time. Shay spent 15 years in hospital public relations before joining Cinefex, the motion picture special effects magazine that her husband, Don, founded. The magazine, now owned and published by the Shays son Gregg, is celebrating its 40th year.

After Shay retired four years ago, she took a class in acrylics, a medium she had never studied. Last year she began taking classes at the Janet Goeske Senior Center, which has inspired her to paint more regularly.

An instructor's advice that artists should paint things that are personal and meaningful resonated with Shay. Ever since she began taking classes at the Goeske Center, she has focused her work on African wildlife.

"It's not surprising that I would gravitate to that subject, because Africa was a huge part of my life for nearly two decades," she said.

Shay described an African safari that she and her husband took in 1987 before they were married. She said that as someone who had done very little traveling outside the United States, the trip was an incredible experience. After the trip was over they could hardly speak of anything else. When they married two years later, they went back for their honeymoon.

"After that, we were hooked on Africa and we just couldn't get enough," she said. "Even though we were both working, we managed to find the time and resources over the next two decades to do near-annual treks to the continent, visiting game parks in nine different countries."

Shay's husband is an accomplished publisher and writer, as well as a photographer. In 2008, he published "Endangered Liaisons," an award-winning coffee table book that included the best of his wildlife photos. Shay uses his photos as references for her own work.

The Shays took their last trip to Africa in 2009, deciding that they would never get to experience other countries if they didn't.

"Giving up Africa, hard as it was, has allowed us to experience and photograph lots of other wonderful places in the world, including South America, northern and southern Italy, Spain and even Antarctica," she said. "So whenever I tire of painting African wildlife, I will have no shortage of photos to work from."

Shay's work will be seen in the next Artscape exhibit at the Riverside County Administration Center.

"I thought it would be nice to finally take it a step further and actually submit one of my paintings to a venue where it might be seen and maybe appreciated by a larger audience," she said. "When I heard about Artscape, I figured it was worth a try. It is a great honor to have a painting of mine displayed on the wall of this building."

Patrick Brien is executive director of the Riverside Arts Council.

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