Conch House Hues: The Art of Ray Rolston
Sponsored by MIA Legacy Magazine, Southeast Overtown / Park West CRA and eLuggageShipping.com.
Get ready to immerse yourself in a world of color and creativity as we showcase the works of the late Ray Rolston (1947 - 2019).
Ray Rolston
Ray brings you the tropical warmth and sunshine of the Florida Keys through color and style on canvas and prints. Born in British Guyana, a small country nestled amid the rainforest at the northern tip of South America.
Ray is a graduate of Queens College with a Masters Degree in English. A naturalist at heart, and growing up in the tropics with bright sunsets and endless summer weather inspired him at an early age. He started painting the surrounding landscapes of his hometown.
The many waterfalls and rivers of the area served as the perfect backdrop for his later works. After migrating to the US and spending 3 decades in New York City & South Florida, he relocated to The Florida Keys. Ray called Key West his home for more than twenty years. The lush tropical landscape, colorful conch houses, landmark buildings and magnificent sunsets became his subjects and inspiration. We call his style of art, Conch House Hues. Hampton Art Lovers curated the show with the specific purpose of showcasing the Conch House as the subject. Ray made portraits of these homes, many of them historic buildings. Just like our own - Historic Ward Rooming House.
Conch House
The conch house architectural style was developed in Key West by Bahamian immigrants, known as "Conchs", a large number of Key West’s early colonial immigrants came from the nearby Bahamas in increasing numbers after 1830, when slavery was abolished there (thirty years before it ended in the U.S.). Over the years, Bahamians of African descent migrated to the Florida Keys and Miami in search of a better life. Major industries on the island included salt production, wreck salvage operations and fishing. In Miami they moved for maritime jobs, farm work, and, later, to build the city’s physical infrastructure. Many Bahamians had experience building boats, and the earliest conch houses were built like boats, using timber framing. In the 1880s timber framing was replaced with balloon framing. Houses in the conch style were also built in Miami, in particular, in the Coconut Grove and Overtown neighborhoods. The Historic Ward Rooming House which was built by a Bahamian architect from Key West in the early 1900s, is an example and monument to this history.Key West Hues (Colors)
Nicknamed the Conch Republic, the history of Key West is as colorful as the guests coming back time and time again to this quirky beach town...Playful seaside hues and fanciful design details enliven the cute cottages found on Florida's Key West island. Key West, or Conch, cottages feature fanciful elements like slim columns topped with decorative wooden details. Tropical and playful hues express a carefree attitude. The lush tropical landscape, colorful conch houses, landmark buildings and magnificent sunsets became the subjects and inspiration for Key West Colors. It is through this lens that Key West's Motto "One Humanity Family" lives.