STROKES OF GENIUS : Juli Veee’s Art Career Has Much Promise, but He Still Has Soccer Skills to Exhibit

Juli Veee’s comments are once again as colorful as his paintings, his frame of mind as spirited as his play on the soccer field.

“He’s like a phoenix that has risen from the ashes,” Socker midfielder Brian Quinn said. “The rumor is he was at the Lawrence Welk Village, and he was rejuvenated. It’s visions of ‘Cocoon.’ He looks so sharp and into the game. And more so than the past two years, he seems to be enjoying it. He’s fun again.”

Trace Veee’s resurgence back to the incident . He was suspended by the Sockers for 30 days after he slapped Johan Aarnio, a Socker assistant coach, after a home victory over Minnesota Nov. 22.

“That could have been the end of my career,” said Veee, at 37 an aging star in the final year of a $90,000-a-year contract on a club undergoing a youth movement.

Instead, it was a turning point that has resulted in Veee’s rebirth at the same time that he is being recognized for past achievements. Friday, he was selected to the 10-player Major Indoor Soccer League All-Star team of the decade.

“Without negative, there is no positive,” Veee said of the suspension. “Being philosophical about it--I love to philosophize--there is no such thing as good without the bad and bad without the good. Something good came out of this . . .

“I’m more at peace with myself. You can see it in me. You could talk to me before, and I’d be sarcastic and down and tired and fatigued. Now I’m more at peace. If this doesn’t work out, that’s OK; something else will.

“With soccer, I feel good. I think I’ve been playing better now than I have been. My mind is free of many, many poisonous things. Politics and other things. I resolved to myself to play to the best of my ability, and I think it shows on the field. It’s dynamic, like my paintings.”

During his suspension, Veee devoted himself to Southwestern style painting. He left town and headed to Arizona to find artistic inspiration. The work resulted in an exhibition at the Art Collector gallery in San Diego starting March 11.

Acting on the advice of agent Scott Simpson, the usually verbose Veee did not discuss the Aarnio incident and his subsequent suspension, which he terms his “exile.”

Veee was quiet and subdued. Veee wasn’t Veee.

But now the real Veee is back. He’s starting, and he’s speaking out about the slap and the suspension and how the exile has helped turn his life around.

The slap: “It wasn’t Johan that I was lashing out at,” Veee said. “I hope everybody understood that. . . . The frustration of being forced to go to Las Vegas (he was sold to Las Vegas before the 1984-85 season), the frustration of coming back. A lot of things swelled up. All the players moaning and groaning and things and all these arguments. I guess I had enough.”

Veee was one of the prime moaners and groaners. He also was reaching a point where he was no longer capable of doing things he did earlier in his career. That turnaround right-footer from the crease had lost some of its crispness. And he was going through his second divorce.

It all boiled over on the night of Nov. 22.

“I don’t know if it’s right to say, but I guess anybody who would have been there could have gotten hit,” Veee said. “It didn’t make any difference who it was. It would have been better if it was someone from the other team. It would have been easier to explain. but I have nothing against the man that way. It wasn’t him I was lashing out at. I have no hard feelings whatsoever. I don’t hold him responsible for me being suspended, either.”

Veee and Aarnio have had their differences over the years--”We’ve had a love-hate relationship for a long time,” Aarnio said--but both say those have now been set aside. Veee says he has exchanged pleasantries with Aarnio since his return, and Aarnio says they work with each other in a professional manner.

“We don’t talk too much about it now,” Aarnio said. “We both help each other to do what’s best for the team. I don’t think there’s any bitterness or hard feelings or animosity left.”

The suspension: Immediately after he slapped Aarnio, Veee began dreading possible repercussions. So, in unusual fashion for Veee, he tried to sidestep reporters’ questions and joke through it.

“When I said it was a case of mistaken identity,” Veee said, “I didn’t know what to say. I was shocked at my own behavior. I didn’t know how the club would react to it so I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

The club reacted harshly.

The new Socker management--headed by Ron Fowler, chairman of the board of Sockers Management Inc., and president Ron Cady--sent a message to the Socker players. They suspended Veee for the maximum allowable time for a “major offense” under the Major Indoor Soccer League’s collective bargaining agreement with the MISL Players Assn. This was the first opportunity for the new Socker management, which had taken over Oct. 14, to flex its muscles.

“The new management wanted to make an example, saying this is the way things run around here,” Veee said.

Veee admitted he was guilty and wrong for slapping Aarnio, but he didn’t think he deserved to be suspended for 30 days without pay, resulting in the loss of approximately $8,000.

“This was not that severe,” Veee said. “I just saw the basketball players, big giant men, kill half the arena like gladiators, and they get a $5,000 fine.”

The Players Assn. and Simpson, Veee’s agent, have filed grievances, contending that the penalty was too severe. A ruling is pending, but whatever it is, Veee said, it won’t undo those 30 days.

“It was very hard,” Veee said. “Throughout my soccer career, I’ve been part of a team. I considered myself a leader. To take me out of there was like pulling your body with four horses in four different directions. It tore me to pieces emotionally, not even to mention financially.”

The exile: Veee worried, painted and took stock of his life while spending almost all his time away from San Diego. The Sockers’ renaissance man pursued interests in literature, art and film.

Meeting writers and artists is one of his favorite pastimes. His house is filled with autographed books--signed by the likes of Elizabeth Taylor and William Randolph Hearst--old movie posters and magazines. He has visited the homes of authors Philip Roth, John Cheever and John Updike.

During his suspension, Veee met novelist Ray Bradbury, poet Stephen Spender and Hermes Pan, a choreographer for the late Fred Astaire. He also pursued his interest in Southwestern art in Arizona.

“When I was excluded from the club, I went to the mesas,” Veee said. “There’s a magical quality about them. I can’t explain it, but anybody who has been in the mesas and experienced how the people used to live there has to be touched by the beauty of it.”

Veee has tried to instill in his oil and acrylic paintings that beauty, combined with the color and look of Indian kachina dolls.

“What I try to do is create a mysterious feeling,” Veee said. “I think I’ve created a unique concept in Southwestern art.”

Veee is not the only one impressed with his recent works.

“They’re excellent,” said Janet Disraeli, owner of the Art Collector, which has six of his paintings on display. “He’s a real good artist. He has wonderful design sense and exquisite color sense.”

Disraeli said that after she saw Veee’s work, she wasn’t surprised that one of his paintings at her gallery quickly sold for approximately $2,000.

“In taking Juli on, you’re always looking for publicity,” Disraeli said. “But let’s be honest here. If his things were not salable to us, forget it.”

Veee was as thrilled with the sale as he is when he scores a hat trick. Maybe more.

“Painting is much deeper,” Veee said. “You’re putting your inner soul on the canvas for everyone to see. In soccer, it’s a different emotional level. The crowd gives you a cheer and an ovation. But in soccer, you’re only getting pleasure out of it momentarily.

“When someone buys a piece of art, they buy a piece of the painter as well. An artist goes home with you. In soccer, they can have you for $10, $15. Then you go out of their life. Art will survive.”

Veee has gracefully moved from one art form to the other. He has been experimenting with painting for the past 20 years, and with guidance from his mentor and friend, Panonnius, he has devoted himself to painting in the past eight.

He started doing portraits and action paintings of athletes. He has a portrait of former Socker captain Jean Willrich in his house, and a self-portrait is in the San Diego Hall of Champions. Socker defender Gus Mokalis recently commissioned Veee to do a painting for him.

“He’s the first athlete intelligent enough to invest in me,” Veee said. “It’s a good investment. The stock market crashed. You have to invest in Juli Veee.”

Painting athletes wasn’t enough, and he entered his “impressionist stage.” His gondola scenes from Venice are both lively and colorful.

An artist’s work often represents his personality. In Veee’s case, that couldn’t be more true. Veee is easygoing, unorganized and always ready to take a risk. He has a playful side and an introspective side. His paintings show both sides.

“The impressionist paintings are loose and dynamic,” Veee said. “They’re playful, like dribbling. The Southwestern paintings are more serious. More meaningful. The Southwestern style is soulful; it represents human kind.”

Veee estimates that he painted 100 canvases during the past off-season. He painted regularly during the suspension and now often gets up at 5:30 a.m. and paints for two or three hours before training. First he does sketches; then he works from them to do paintings.

Veee has been working primarily at a friend’s studio, but a studio in the back of his Kensington home is just about finished. His paintings are kept throughout his house and in his van, a mobile art gallery he has named “Galleria de Veee.”

“I’m looking to develop my art,” Veee said. “Financially, I went out on the limb with it (with the new studio). I believe in it.”

Not only is Veee becoming an artist, he says he’s determined to portray the image of an artiste . He has started buying European clothes and wearing a scarf. His Socker sweats are on their way out.

Last week, Veee brought a scrapbook of photographs of himself to the Art Collector so they could choose one to advertise his upcoming show. The photo he most wanted them to use was a shot of him, without a shirt, taken in Greece.

“It’s mysterious,” Veee said. “It’s better than having a picture with the kids at the zoo.”

“But we don’t want it to be too sexy,” Disraeli said.

“You could make me a hunchback,” Veee said.

End of conversation. The verdict is still out on which picture will be chosen. One thing is for certain--Veee has his European sweaters ready for his art openings.

While he pursues art exhibitions and prepares to move into the art world when his soccer career is finished, he has renewed optimism about his future in the sport.

“I’m playing like a young buck,” Veee said.

In six games since his return, Veee has had three goals, two assists and a lot of enthusiasm. This was after the Sockers talked to the Baltimore Blast about a trade involving Veee during his suspension. He has a trade approval clause in his contract, and the two sides were not able to work out a deal.

So Veee remained a Socker. And he says he has even had encouraging discussions with Fowler since his return.

“Now the attitude is very good to me,” Veee said. “I’m afraid they’re going to adopt me.”

Big laugh.

“He’s doing very well,” Socker Coach Ron Newman said. “He’s working hard. No problems at all. I’m glad to see it. He sees there are players ready to jump in, and that keeps him on his toes.”

For a while, Veee had to wait to get back into the lineup. The suspension ended Dec. 25, and he resumed practicing with the team immediately, but he didn’t dress for a game until Jan. 12. Newman maintained that he didn’t want to break up a winning combination.

If it weren’t for injuries to forward Keder and midfielder Hugo Perez, Veee might still be on the bench. But don’t tell him that.

“I’m fortunate that these things happen, but there was also a public outcry,” Veee said. “People felt I did my punishment. I did my time in the slammer. I must tell you, I’ve been in soccer for a long time. People have liked me. But the amount of support that I’m getting now, from friends who are saying, ‘Do what’s best for you,’ is phenomenal.”

Veee said he received approximately 50 supportive letters during and after his suspension.

“They say, ‘Juli, you’ve been playing brilliantly. We’re sad about the incident,’ ” Veee said. “I’ve never experienced anything like this.”

Although Veee feels that “public outcry” would have eventually forced his return to the lineup, Newman disagrees.

“I don’t succumb to public pressure,” Newman said. “It probably works the opposite for me.”

But Newman agrees that if Veee had continued to play well in practice, he would have had to give him a few shifts sooner or later. Sooner, Veee says.

“Physically, I was fit,” Veee said. “Mentally, I was fit. And I won a starting job on this team without a doubt. Even though the team does well, it doesn’t mean you push a starter out. What are you going to do? Discard him like a used card? Sooner or later, they had to put me in.”

Veee has proven he can still be a valuable contributing member of the club, but his status beyond this season is a question mark. Veee will be 38 on Feb. 22. His contract is up after this season, and he has commanded a high salary for years.

“We’ll talk about it at the end of the year,” Newman said. “It would be a gamble whether we could get one more year out of him at that money. But he’s not playing like a 37-year-old.”

Veee is uncertain about whether he would want to play elsewhere if the Sockers did not offer him a new contract.

“I’d love to stay here,” Veee said. “I put a lot of time in this town. I will always be associated with the San Diego Sockers, no doubt about it.”

For the time being, Veee is just taking it one game, one painting, at a time. And he’s enjoying life.

“I feel dynamic,” Veee said. “I feel bubbly, like a champagne.”