It is with great sadness that we announce the
death of Ron Brown, one of the Studio Tour's founding members. He was a
great artist and a great friend; he will be missed.
Arrangements are:
Visitation
Monday, December 3rd, 2012, 7:00pm - 9:00pm
10366 Yonge Street Richmond Hill, ON
10366 Yonge St. Richmond Hill( 4 lights north of Major Mackenzie Drive
West side of street)
Service
Tuesday, December 4th, 2012, 2:00pm
The family has requested that, in lieu of flowers,
that we can make a donation to a charity of our choice.
Let's celebrate Ron's life and keep his family in our thoughts.
Ray McNeice shares with us
One Sunday morning, Ron Brown introduced himself to a small group of “plein
air weekend artists” loosely know as the Roadside Painters. Several of us
were scattered along a sideroad south of Stouffville trying to interpret the
lovely rural scene with pencils and paint. “This is just what I’ve been
looking for”, he said. We quickly adopted this Markham resident into our
artistic community and he became a lifelong friend, mentor and catalyst for
the Stouffville Studio Tour. Sadly, Ron passed away on Friday, November
30th.
He quickly made his presence felt. He joined in, every chance he had, to
paint and share his infectious love of life and art. He always had a story,
told with a twinkle in his eye and a smile on his face. He brought another
key element to the development of Stouffville’s creative community... his
enthusiasm.
He rented space in the “Clocktower Building” (the former Town Offices, now
the Lebovic Centre for Arts & Entertainment, 19 on the Park) and opened a
studio. He quickly made new friends with the resident group of potters. That
year, with a pre-Chrismas exhibition and sale of pottery and paintings, the
Stouffville Studio Tour was born. It would be a couple more years before we
out-grew the venue constraints and began the true “annual studio tour” that
the Town enjoys each year.
Ron was an immensely talented painter with a gift of salesmanship that had
his works flying off his studio walls. People have been known to purchase
unfinished works right off his easel. The rest of us were amused (but in
awe). Ron just shrugged and, with a little boy smile, said “When you’ve got
it, you’ve got it.” He epitomized the adage that “growing old is mandatory,
growing up is optional.”
Born in Toronto’s Beach area, Ron was an architectural draughtsman at
Ontario Hydro before he took early retirement.
Ron continued to paint right up to November at his current studio, The
Clocktower Gallery on Freel Lane. He will be sadly missed but we celebrate
his life and were enriched by it.
