Fontaine Rodgers

The study is an intimate drawing created to allow the eye to better understand the subject.  A study can be quick and active or detailed and purposeful.  

Drawing is the foundation of nearly all artistic work.  It is the lens through which we learn to see, to imagine, to experiment and to grow.  

Having recently arrived in Florida, I have discovered the favorite Floridian color: PINK! Such a happy environment - pink sunsets, pink flowers, pink flamingos, pink buildings. Here are a few of my most recent works, paintings created at the Crealde School of Art in Winter Park, FL. And yes, I couldn’t resist creating a snowy winter scene in pastels with plenty of pink.

I can't remember when I fell in love with the horse... It seems like it has been a life long romance. I am especially attracted to the freedom of movement and the interplay of lines and shapes that comes from capturing these beautiful animals on paper.

Creating art outside or Plein Air is both gloriously fun and challenging. Weather, time, light and fatigue are the challenge.  But just like a day at the beach, it is oh so enjoyable!

When I was a child I was so fortunate to have a grandfather willing to teach me about his garden. It was for me the Garden of Eden. He took time to explain about pea pods and radish roots and black raspberries. I love to see things grow and bloom, whether flowers or a young mind.

Not surprisingly, I've made drawings from locations thoughout Maryland's very diverse landscape.  I moved with my family to Maryland in the 1960's and I still marvel at its hidden treasures.  Maryland has a gentle beauty,  with rolling farmland, the bay and rivers, parks and happily even my backyard had beauty sufficient to keep me busy.

Having spent part of my childhood in Arizona I have a true affection for the great American South West.  

My father would take me and my brothers and sisters into the desert to collect precious rocks, or play in a shallow stream or catch a Horned Toad to keep as a pet.  We lived in the proximity of Black Widow Spiders and rattlesnakes and brush fires and spectacular electrical storms.  Yet all this seemed intriguingly normal. Nothing to fear. Everything to marvel. 

I have returned to the American South West numerous times, staying at a ranch for a vacation, visiting my sisters in Nevada or flying to Phoenix on business. It is never long enough. Georgia O'Keeffe had it right. Paint in the desert...be happy.  That simple.

The last drawing on this page is my colored pencil interpretation of a beautiful painting by the contemporary American artist Glenn Renell. I was intrigued by his idea of making a landscape within the context of a rainbow or color wheel.  Look carefully. The top starts with the color blue-violet and moves cleverly down through blue, red-violet, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and back to purple. Very clever I think!   

"Art is where we go to see how others see the world" -Glenn Renell

A still life, for me, is another opportunity to spend time in a careful drawing.  I enjoy taking a collection of favorite objects and indulging  in a drawing that once started can be interrupted and later revisited.  Perfect for rainy days with a pot of tea.

Honestly, people are a challenge for me and maybe that just reflects my preference for other subjects.  Portraits especially require a level of attention because they must look like that person and yet bring some of the artist's personality and style into the picture.  At the bottom of this page is a portrait of a friend's mother created to honor her life. 

I do however really enjoy the opportunity to join fellow artists in a good old fashioned live model studio session.  I know my younger students won't appreciate this so my model here is pictured from behind.

I became truly fascinated with Asian art while taking an art history class my freshman year at MICA. Soon I found myself visiting the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC and loving the subject matter and techniques for both painting and gilted panels.

I am self-taught, but in April 2014 I journeyed to Taiwan and was so fortunate to get a painting tutorial from master painters Chin and Yang, two gifted and very gracious women.

My students love learning both the painting techniques and philosophy. I love the idea that you have to see it in your mind first and hope the brush and ink cooperate.

Birds, our beloved modern dinosaurs, share our ability to see a range of colors.  Their adaptation to special tasks and unusual environments rival our own adaptability.  And we do marvel at, even envy, their ability to fly.

For an artist, birds are beautiful. The challenge is not so much drawing or painting the bird but rather...it is the FEATHERS.  How to create a soft, distinct, overlapping texture can be a true challenge. Ask my students. Feathers are extremely tricky. Feathers require a soft yet controlled touch. Not unlike a bird landing on a wire.

I was born in the Shenandoah Valley and I think of the Blue Ridge Mountains as an old and beloved friend. Mountains are my happy place and I know I’m not alone. My two sisters live a short drive from beautiful Lake Tahoe. Whether a hike in autumn or snow or a splash in summer waterfalls, mountains always feel like home.

Printmaking is a process. If you love the element of surprise, this is a great medium. Most printmakers find the end result exciting and frustrating. Cutting into wood or linoleum can be therapeutic. Inking and printing is another matter. The appeal of this art form is that it is unpredictable and therefore challenging. Sometimes it is exactly as you hoped and then there is the unexpected. And it all depends on what you are willing to settle for.