Hansen: The watercolor that never fades

Lucille McElroy is the perfect watercolor.

Soft around the edges, subtle and fluid, she moves with an ease that belies her 93 years.

She is the oldest gallery owner in Laguna Beach, something she accepts with nonchalance and only a hint of pride. She loves what she does and can’t think of ever retiring.

“I’m the only one left,” she said of her colleagues and friends. “I don’t know why I’m still here. What else am I going to do?”

She is celebrating the 30th anniversary of her gallery, WaterColor Gallery at 1492 S. Coast Hwy., at that location. For 10 years prior, it was nearby on Mountain Road, making a total of 40 years in the art business.

“Time just marches on,” she said. “I love what I’m doing.”

When she thinks about the past she likes to walk around her gallery, pointing to scenes that jog her quick, wide-ranging memory. Each artist reminds her of a certain time and style. She recalls personal yet discrete details of each artist, like a protective grandmother.

She knew early on that she wasn’t really a painter. She tried but gave up, instead choosing to run things.

“The artists wanted to paint; they didn’t want to sit and sell,” she said. So she did it for them.

With family connections that go back to Laguna’s founding, she and her husband, Robert McElroy, lived at Treasure Island for 20 years. He passed in 2001, and she now lives in San Juan Capistrano. But she still drives herself to the gallery.

“When I moved here I was sitting in my house and missing all my friends in Van Nuys, and Art-a-Fair came along and I volunteered my time,” she said. “I got tired of sitting at home.”

She has barely sat down since. As we walked around her gallery, the time slipped by and I finally asked if she wanted to sit back down at her desk.

“No, do you?” she asked with more concern than sarcasm.

“No, thank you,” I said, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

She moved on to the next artist, explaining why watercolors are her favorite.

“It’s the hardest medium to paint,” she said. “A lot of people can’t paint it. It gives the true image — the softer image.”

Watercolors can be both exacting and impressionistic, which is partly why she likes them. If oil painters make a mistake, they can glob on more paint. Not so with watercolors.

“They can’t go over anything. Once it’s on the paper, it’s on the paper. There are some tricks but not many.”

She’s seen many changes over the years involving all aspects of the art business: prices, customers, taste, etc.

“We have lost a lot of good colorists over the years,” she said. “The colors became brighter as time went on. The prices are a lot higher.

“In winter, a lot of business people from back East would come. They were well-established people who would stay at the hotels. Now, people are not dressed as nice. We don’t get the clientele that we used to get anymore.”

That’s her polite way of saying that maybe things are too casual today.

With her bright blue eyes, proper hair and sharp outfit, she comes from a time when dressing up was standard.

“Now they advertise Aliso Beach and Main Beach on the TV news. If you look at Aliso Beach, I mean, it’s Coney Island.”

Nearby businessman Gary Gibson, owner of The Vintage Poster, has known McElroy for nearly 20 years. He marvels at her stamina and dedication to her business.

“She’s basically an icon here,” Gibson said. “We’re just really lucky to have all of these years with her. I don’t know of anyone in Laguna who has run a gallery anywhere close to the number of years she has.”

Gibson said he knows how fickle the art business can be but said he hopes people appreciate the contribution she has made to the Laguna art community.

“She is like a pillar pretty much by herself,” he said. “As far as her knowledge of watercolors, there’s not going to be anyone who knows more about that. She’s a remarkable woman.”

McElroy would rather not talk about herself. It’s more about others, especially her artists. While family is important to her, she realized she wanted a life too and did not want to take the traditional path to retirement.

“I should have moved by my sons but I’ve been there, done that,” she said. “I love them dearly but I started to get antsy as they got older.”

She couldn’t help it. She knew what made her happy.

“I think what it comes down to is I just love art.”

DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at [email protected].