Charlotte County Artist Gerry Sturm

By Ronald Dupont Jr.
Sunline Internet Editor

Charlotte County artist Gerry Sturm laughs out loud when he talks about the most money he ever got paid for a painting.

It was a painting of a rock.

A painting he had left out in the rain.

He brought the painting to an art show and hadn't even hung it up when a man walked up and asked how much it was.

''Oh, $2,500,'' Gerry responded, almost flippantly.

''I'll buy it,'' the man replied. And then he took it out to his airplane.

''Isn't that something?'' Gerry's wife, Jeanne, responds upon hearing Gerry tell the story.

Gerry's life is full of such stories, and most of those stories are found in his paintings. Point to any painting of his, and he can tell you what inspired him, how long it took to paint, even such details as the exact colors he used. (Gerry gives brief glimpses into his paintings in his online gallery, at the bottom of this page.)

Gerry (pictured with his Jeanne, above) remembers the very first inspiration he received to be an artist. It came from his dad, who also used to draw from time to time.

''I used to sit on his knee, and he'd draw something, then have me draw. One day, he said, 'You'll make your bread and butter doing this.' I didn't know what that meant. I said, 'I want pie and cake.'''

Gerry's first ''bread and butter'' from his artistic work came when the local theater hired him as a teen to do larger-than-life renderings of such movie stars as Clark Gable and Douglas Fairbanks. Gerry, 82, still has a tattered black-and-white photo of the giant pieces of art, all piled alongside the outside of the theater.

Not until World War II, when Gerry was hired to be an art teacher, did he see any money for his talents. From then on, he found many outlets for his artistic abilities, including doing commercial advertising. In that business, he had a staff of people and owned a 5-story building.

His wife served as his secretary.

''Life is never dull with an artist,'' Jeanne says, laughing. ''We went to a lot of different places. He needed different places to paint.''

Gerry first met Jeanne as a teen when she was sitting near the window of a friend's home. Gerry knocked on the door and wanted to know who the beautiful woman was. When he learned she was from an area of town somewhat far away, he said, ''Oh, never mind,'' thinking he'd never see her again.

But they met again a short time later, and they have been together ever since.

In his artistic career, which has taken him all over the world, Gerry has earned hundreds of honors. He doesn't even keep track of them anymore. In the past few months alone, he's won four from various art shows. Perhaps what he is most proud of is his induction as a Signature Member into the Florida Watercolor Society. Such an honor is only bestowed on artists who are accepted into at least three annual statewide shows. Because of this honor, he can sign ''FWS'' on his paintings after his name.

Gerry, who works in all types of mediums and even draws editorial cartoons for the Sun Herald, draws something nearly every day. His style is far-reaching, and when people see his variety of work, they usually ask if the same artist really did all of it.

''Every now and then, I say, 'Did I do that?' There's some I could never do again.''

Gerry's love of drawing and painting is something he can't quite describe.

''No way I can put it in words,'' he said. ''It's me. If I don't paint, I feel like I'm worthless. I've got to paint.''