Memories of Rupert

Everyone in Newport Beach has their own theory on how Rupert the black swan arrived in the harbor waters all those years ago. Dariela Wilson is one of them — only she has a vivid way of expressing it.

Wilson, who has lived on the Balboa Peninsula since childhood, chose to commemorate the late Rupert’s history the only way she knew how — through painting. Her work captures Rupert and his mate Pearl, who died in 2001 from an infection, lovingly cruising the waters of the harbor together.

Years ago some men rented a house near her home on the peninsula, Wilson said. They brought in four or five black swans, keeping them in cages near the canal water.

Gradually the men would let the swans loose, and Wilson would occasionally see them swimming in the waters around her home. After the men moved away, the flock of swans shrank until there was only one, Wilson said.

She has always held that the one remaining swan was Rupert, the Newport Harbor icon. Rupert died in September when a Harbor Patrol boat struck him while responding to an emergency call at the Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

“Kayaking along the canals near her home, I would often run into Rupert,” Wilson said. “I will miss him.”

“He was a good symbol, adapting to change, like the city,” Wilson said.

Wilson is exhibiting her watercolor paintings, including portraits of Rupert and Pearl, at the Orange County Public Library Mesa Verde Branch in Costa Mesa.

So far, Wilson has completed only two watercolors of the swans, but she plans to present at least four more before her exhibit closes on Dec. 31.

One of those planned paintings will feature Rupert on a rock noticing his reflection in the water. That might take her some time, though. Wilson can’t even think of how she will portray the black Australian swan until she has painted him in the perfect setting.

“I have to feel right about the background before I can work on the subject,” Wilson said.

Using a three-layered process, Wilson sometimes goes through six or more potential backgrounds, first wetting the paper with some light color.

She then turns the moist paper on its side, holds a brush with some paint to it and lets the paint seep down toward the other side.

For her final ingredient, margarita salt placed over the wet colors gives the water “its bubbly effect,” Wilson said.

Wilson, a retired Orange Coast College literature instructor, and longtime Newport Beach resident, finds her greatest sense of accomplishment capturing images representative of the place she calls home.

“It’s nice to memorialize something local,” Wilson said. “Everybody had a fit when he was killed like that. He was Newport Beach, even if he wasn’t indigenous,” she said.

Every painting on display is also up for sale. Rupert and Pearl pieces go between $450 and $500, Wilson said.