The Rose Colored Glasses of Meg Rubino
By Amanda McDanel –
Blue Board, watercolor by Meg Rubino.
An artist by trade, Meg Rubino has found her niche in the Outer Banks art community by capturing ordinary everyday moments.
Picture pulling into a beach access on a beautiful spring day, grabbing your chair and cresting the dune to spy a perfect flash of blue ocean in the distance. Do you put down your chair, notice the blooming native wildflowers along the sand, the perfectly shabby beach fence and sigh to yourself while thinking, “This. This is the reason I live here.”
Too often we do not. We are too hurried to scout out our spot of sand, lugging endless beach toys or trying to avoid burning the soles of our feet. However, we are lucky that Meg Rubino does.
Meg Rubino. Photo by Kati Wilkins Photography.
An artist by trade, although in the beginning she never considered herself “artistic enough”, Meg works primarily in watercolors and has found her niche in the Outer Banks art community by capturing ordinary everyday moments. Inspired by the little things—her son and his friends skimboarding on the beach or a beach dune scene she entitles “The Sweet Path”—Meg really takes a photographer’s eye when it comes to her art. Rather than capturing it on film though, she takes these moments and creates paintings through her personal filter, which has an ever rosy glow.
“I use my perception and awareness of the little moments in my life to find my inspiration. Because it’s the little things that make life fresh and sweet,” says Meg.
With two small children, her life is definitely both fresh and sweet. Between being a mom and a wife, she carves our time for her art and is especially excited for the new at-home studio she and her husband are building. She lights up as she describes it—the bright colors, peaked ceiling, and ocean view provide almost as much inspiration as the view of the cul-de-sac where her children will play.
“Raising kids is so abstract. My art allows me a place to create something concrete that is just for myself,” says Meg. “I love turning a memory or feeling into a tangible expression. Life goes so fast. I use my paintings as a way to freeze just a moment of it.”
Knowing that she always wanted to live at the beach, Meg’s journey from college to a career in education to professional artist was peppered with various jobs and locations but the two constants were always a love for the ocean and a passion for art.
Teaching elementary school gave her the confidence to spread her wings and launch her art career. “I have such admiration for teachers,” she says. “It is truly one of the hardest jobs anyone can do and after teaching for a few years, I knew that if I could do that, I could do anything.”
Within all of this, Meg has found what she believes is the answer to life’s elusive question—balance.
“It’s challenging to have a family, husband and a career,” says Meg. “Often times I question, am I doing a good enough job? Yet, through art I’ve learned to live by the mantra: Be thankful each day for the little things that go your way, for there you will find the joy.”
