Montauk Pioneer - May 8, 2009 - The Pioneer Talks To...

Montauk artist Adalid Muniz Ruiz has come a long way from his roots in Puerto Rico. Walking into his second floor studio, near the Montauk Depot Gallery, it seems more like a gallery, with his colorful paintings decorating every inch of the walls.

There are paintings of all sizes, with themes of both nature and cityscapes, like Spanish Harlem. There are paintings of Ditch Plains, where Ruiz has spent many hours standing at his easel and sketching. There are others of the mountains in upstate New York, where his brother lives, and other paintings of still lifes and nudes.

"When I go to the beach or in nature, I see the beauty, and I try to capture it not just as a picture, but as a feeling," said Ruiz who is 54. "I think 54 is a good age for an artist, because I'm able to put more feeling into my work than when I was younger. As you get older as an artist, you mature more and have more confidence."

A visitor to his studio gets a real sense of the richness and vibrant colors emanating from his heritage in this colorful country. Ruiz was born in Rincon, which is coincidentally a popular surfing resort for many Montauk surfers who catch the waves there in the winter. His father, Adalid Muniz, has been known as Ali down at Gosman's Restaurant, where he worked as a cook for about 40 years. Now retired, Ali still comes to Montauk in the summers. Ruiz's mother, Maria Ruiz, also lives in Montauk year-round.

Ruiz's uncle owns the Puntas Igueras resort in Puntas, Puerto Rico, where many local tourists visit in the winters.

His family moved to the Bronx when he was about six months old, and he attended grade school there. He started drawing in the first grade.

"I was always drawing," he recalled. "Instead of stick figures, I'd draw details, like a hat, shirt and eyebrows."

When he was in eighth grade, his family moved to Lancaster, Massachusetts, where he attended high school, and decided as a freshman that he wanted to pursue art as a career.

"I always got straight A's in art in high school," he said. "I was able to put down my feelings, and I enjoyed creating."

After high school, he worked in a state hospital for awhile, and he had his first exhibit in Worchester, Mass. at age 21, with 20 other artists from Spain and South America. He took lessons from a Spanish artist in Worchester, and he took lessons at the Worchester Museum of Fine Arts for one year.

"I enjoyed taking private lessons from older artists," he said. "I still take art lessons at the Depot Gallery and at the Applied Arts Center in Amagansett."

Ruiz became familiar with Montauk through his father, and he moved here about 17 years ago to become a full-time artist. He has exhibited his paintings at La Internet College in Puerto Rico, at the Guild Hall Clothesline Art Show and at the Montauk Art Show on the green. He also works part-time at the Depot Gallery, where he has been on the Board of Directors, and where he will be taking over as director this summer.

Scanning the walls of his studio, it is evident that Ruiz has a wide range of styles, from abstract, to impressionist, to cubism and stylized. And some of his work is even reminiscent of Dali and Picasso, his idols.

In one corner of the room are his numerous art books, from which he has studied the great artists. On his easel, surrounded by tubes of paints and brushes, is a work in progress - a stylized painting of the Ditch Plains cliffs with bold, bright orange and blue colors in the sky and beach.

Ruiz has an interesting work schedule as a freelance artist. Each morning, he walks the beaches from Montauk Village to the Ditch Plains cliffs, taking photos of the changing light, the birds, and the things he finds on the sand. He paints from his hundreds of photos, as well as plein air.

Adalid Muniz Ruiz will be having an exhibit, with two other artists, at the Depot Gallery in Montauk, from July 10-20, with an opening reception held on July 11, from 5 to 7 p.m. His paintings are being shown at his studio by appointment, by calling 631-356-3204.