RUMFORD — In 50 minutes on Saturday night, speed painter Rob Surette wowed more than 800 people of all ages during his inspirational Amazing Heroes Art Show in the auditorium at Mountain Valley High School.

Using a multimedia program projected onto a large screen, Surette’s life history played out before the audience throughout the show and also his message to “Be Somebody.”

“I always wanted to make a difference in the world, so here we go,” Surette said at the start of his program.

Hosting the show were people of the Parish of the Holy Savior Youth Ministry, who brought Surette in to perform in Rumford in 2007. They liked it so much, they brought him back on Saturday.

Surette, 39, has been speed painting for more than 18 years. He has performed more than 3,500 shows for schools, churches, corporations, trade shows and black-tie fundraisers. His auction paintings fetch tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Surette gives all of that money to charities.

Working in near darkness, lit only by red and blue spotlights at times, Surette, wearing a tux, quickly drew a map of the United States as patriotic music and images played in the video.

After the applause died down, he swiftly moved toward a large black canvas board propped on a giant easel, grabbed some paint from cans arranged on empty black milk crates and began applying it on the canvas.

Paintbrushes in both hands moved faster than the eye could keep up with them at times as Abraham Lincoln’s face magically came to life.

A mere nine minutes into the show, he quickly painted highlights in Lincoln’s hair and then jumped around with emphasis to the music, spraying paint from his fingers at the portrait.

Lit from behind, Surette’s shadow appeared to be painting beside him, and just a few minutes after he started, he finished to wild applause.

Between stunning the crowd with his artistic prowess, Surette shared his message, at times getting the audience involved.

“Don’t go through life without realizing why you’re here on Earth,” he said. “Don’t go through life without realizing the gifts and abilities you have.”

Placing another canvas on the easel, Surette began adding brush strokes here and there before another portrait began to take shape, that of Mother Teresa.

That was followed in less than a minute on another canvas by Surette’s frantic rush to apply paint even faster to the surface — and out popped Albert Einstein to wild applause.

Then, as the audience watched enraptured, wondering who was going to appear next, he said, “Here’s someone else who changed the world.”

It soon became apparent at 7:26 p.m. that a side profile of the nearly finished face of Jesus was looking heavenward.

“Jesus came into this world so we could have life abundantly,” he said as his brushes scritched loudly on the canvas.

Next, a video showed Surette speed drawing Walt Disney and then painting a portrait of him.

Next, he brought out a small white board and drew a caricature of William Shakespeare, which then began talking to Surette, much to the audience’s surprise. Shakespeare’s painted mouth moved as he spoke while Surette, microphone in hand, interviewed him.

Surette then challenged the crowd to “dig down deep and take risks, dream big and don’t take life too seriously.”

“Find the moments in life that make you feel magical,” he said. “You’re never too old to make your childhood dreams come true. God loves it when we overcome obstacles.”

A video played, showing Surette posing for photos with famous people and celebrities.

“How cool is it when you live out your life and become the person you were meant to become,” he said. “Anything is possible.”

A standing ovation closed out the show, after which a paint-spattered Surette signed autographs for children and adults.

Laura Koch of Rumford was one of the many who stood smiling afterward.

“It was fabulous,” she said. “Absolutely inspiring, and it was great for the kids to see someone making a difference in the world.”

tkarkos@sunjournal.com

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