Don Matis Jr. was consumed in prayer one day, those
bushy sprouts from his jaw nearing his folded hands, when God came calling.
It was about that beard.
It was time, the Lord said, to put the beard to some
use.
So off Matis went to the local craft store.
``Acrylic water-based,'' the lady behind the counter
said with confidence.
Back at his Stow apartment, Matis found himself straining
his neck lower and lower, dipping those twisted, scraggly hairs into
a cup of fresh paint. Over and over he dabbed and swirled it onto paper
until it was done.
His beard had become his paintbrush, his emotional
and religious outlet.
Four years and more than 450 pieces of work later,
Matis is still at it. He is one of the world's few artists, if not the
only one, who disdains easels and brushes and instead grabs his beard
and a canvas.
In the past two years, he has sold almost 10 pieces,
some for as much as $200. His abstract artworks have been displayed
in varied places -- from a pizza shop to Stow City Hall.
Most recently, his work can be viewed and bought from
his Web site.
You don't have to tell Matis that he and his beard
art are, well, a little weird. He's always been different, he said.
And that's OK.
``When I first started painting, I thought I was crazy.
People just don't paint with their beard,'' said Matis, 49, dipping
his beard in red paint as he spoke. ``Why God would have me paint with
my beard, I have no idea. I just do it.''
A brief recounting of his life makes it a little easier
to understand why Matis is who he is.
He was born in Cleveland and raised on the West Side.
As a youngster, he was sexually abused, he said, by a neighbor. When
he was 15, he and his parents and four siblings moved to Hudson. By
then, he was already soothing his pain with drugs and alcohol.
His addictions only grew after he graduated from Hudson
High School in 1976. Alcohol, marijuana, acid and heroin were part of
his routine. He used and he sold.
``Basically, for 17 years, I partied,'' he said. ``I'd
run beer in my veins just to feel a needle. Really, I just wanted to
die.''
He married in 1986, had a son, and kept on partying
until, he said, the Virgin Mary called him that same year. He went to
a church, got a rosary, got sober and got a divorce.
During his lucid years, he lived in an Oldsmobile 88
and a beat-up Chevy van. For the past 14 years, he has lived with his
friend, Monica Baird, in a tiny Stow apartment.
``It was odd when he told me God moved him to paint
with his beard, but I've been on an odd journey with Don,'' Baird said.
``When I'm in my room and I hear him out in his room, I know he's being
inspired.
``It's meaningful to him and to hear him describe the
story behind each painting, it's very special. And when art people say
he's good with color and balance, I'll look and, wow, it really is good.''
His living room triples as his bedroom/art studio.
The walls are cluttered with depictions of Jesus Christ, the Virgin
Mary and some of his art.
His beard dates to 1998, after his ex-wife was murdered
in Arizona. He let it grow as a sign of solidarity with her, and hasn't
stopped since.
For about four years after God told him to paint with
that beard, Matis said he merely painted and collected his own work.
It was his way of expression.
``It's like a healing process,'' he said. ``It helps
me express my emotions and feelings.''
It was the beard that drew Tallmadge school teacher
Connie Kuvalla. She noticed his work at a local art show and later purchased
two pieces, one for her home and one for her son, an art director living
in Manhattan. She became Matis' first paying customer.
``I said, `A beard? Please.' But I think it's sort
of cutting edge to use part of your body to do art work. It takes an
extreme amount of talent to do that,'' Kuvalla said. ``I like his color
choices and how they seem to blend well together. You wouldn't know
it was done with his beard. When I tell someone, they're like, `What?'
''
Typically, Matis' work takes about 30 minutes from
prayer to final beard stroke. He's had no formal art training and has
no real influences.
He uses a brush to create a background. After that,
it's all beard.
He begins with a prayer, then he grabs the beard at
the middle and twists the strands together. He dips the beard in a color
and dabs and swirls the paint around.
Matis said his art ``is a deep expression of my own
journey of suffering, pain, joy and laughter.''
When he's done, the paint is washed away with some
shampoo.
``I never plan anything I paint,'' he said of his work.
``Sometimes, I have to ask Monica when to stop.''
As he finishes one piece, he compliments himself. Monica
joins in and says that's enough.
Matis likes the colors, the expressions, the emotions
that now cover the canvass.
It wasn't always like that. The sexual abuse, the alcohol
and drug abuse, his ex-wife's death, his separation from his son --
are pains he said he still carries. His comfort, he believes, comes
from God, his own ministry work, his art and helping others.
``My philosophy is I'm just happy to be alive every
day,'' he said.
More information, including available artwork, can
be found on the Internet at http://web.mac.com/beardedimages.
Phil Trexler can be reached at 330-996-3717 or ptrexler@thebeaconjournal.com
