“ When I was a boy ,
I would see vivid colors
everywhere ; from picking wildflowers on the hillside for my mom , to vivid colors in the feathers of my pigeons , and all the nature around me .”
During our interview , he was sweetly candid and enthusiastic . He made our time together feel important and enjoyable . Talking with him was as easy as talking with a favorite family member . He brings that same honesty , enthusiasm , and dare I say , joy , to each of his incredible paintings .
According to Hallen , he has always enjoyed building things with his hands . He ’ s made tables and chairs out of barn wood , as well as wood shelving with glass inserts . He then moved on to building his canvas frames and repairing and refinishing drums , guitars , and other musical instruments with his son .
He loves bright colors and attributes that to his Portuguese roots and the diverse culture he grew up in during the 1960s and 1970s in the San Francisco Bay Area .
“ When I was a boy , I would see vivid colors everywhere ; from picking wildflowers on the hillside for my mom , to vivid colors in the feathers of my pigeons , and all the nature around me . My grandparents are full Portuguese from the Azores Islands , so bright colors are in my DNA . The diversity and events of the Bay Area in the 1960s were a huge influence on me as well . I was in the middle of Haight-Ashbury and saw Carlos Santana , James Brown , Tower of Power , and all the great musicians of that era up close and personal . I soaked up all this culture and it later burst onto my canvases in eclectic and diverse ways .
“ Over the years , many people have said they can tell an art piece is my work by the vibrant colors in the painting .”
His first sale however was a charcoal sketch .
“… a charcoal sketch that I did on a big sheet of paper , of a man and his alterego . I sold it for $ 190 to Laneova , an artist friend who saw something in my work that she wanted to support . It had a huge effect on me and gave me the courage to actually call myself an artist . She predicted I would sell much more art in the years to come , and I am grateful to say she was right .”
Mostly self-taught , Rod attributes the rest of his art education to two things : knowledgeable mentors and visiting galleries to sketch the greats .
“ People have this idea that if you ’ re an artist you just paint from yourself , and some kind of magical thing comes out and that ’ s you . But every great artist was watching somebody else . Every great musician is playing other people ’ s songs . That ’ s an important thing for people to realize — that we are all connected , and we work together better than we do alone .”
“ Be Funky ”
22 ART CHOWDER MAGAZINE