Page 18 - The Noise September 2016

rOberTA rOGerS: creATiVe heriTAGe
Watercolors: luminous translucent layers of colored water that spread and bloom in de- lightful and unexpected ways. Often thought of as either a sketch medium or as least forgiving and most difficult of paint mediums because the transparent quality makes it dif- ficult to cover up or erase mistakes, watercolors have nonetheless increased in popularity in recent years. But while many dabble in watercolors on the side, Roberta Rogers is a classically trained, third generation watercolorist, who at times uses other artistic mediums as well.
“Creativity in many media was the great gift from my Mother.” Ms. Rogers tells me that her mother always had a sketchbook and painting materials with her. Especially during the many childhood trips she and her mother took with her father, who was a geologist.
Appreciation of our natural surroundings, and observing creativity was her great inheri- tance from her family. Ms. Rogers also still has many of her grandmother’s paintings of roses from 1915. Her mother was also an avid antique collector with a great interest in history, especially architecture.
While working towards her Master’s Degree at Fresno state, Ms. Rogers chose to paint San Francisco’s Victorian houses. Her deep love of architecture can be seen in her paint- ings of historical buildings and sites. She has often been commissioned to do architectural paintings, and also loves painting vintage vehicles with an extraordinary eye for structure and fine detail.
Ms. Rogers moved to Flagstaff in 1970 and worked as secretary for the public library. But after a few years she yearned to return to painting. “In 1975 with a 1-year-old and as a stay at home mom, I decided to not let my art education go to waste. I began painting Flagstaff historic architecture and the library generously gave me a one-woman show.” One project led to another with landscapes, florals and now portraiture as well.
Ms. Rogers explains the process for painting architecture subjects starts with the “aha” perception of the place — it may be the light, colors, season or connection to the people or history. She takes many photos, then during the sketching process, returns to the loca-
by Jen TUrrell
tion for further observations. It takes several days to complete a detailed watercolor be- cause of detail work, letting paper dry, and also critique time. “I love to work on location for landscapes because of the extra information shared by Mother Nature through the fresh air, birds, light ... snow on fresh watercolor makes snowflakes. I love painting flowers and am working on portraits currently.”
Ms. Rogers was a founding member of The Artists’ Gallery, which she says both was and is a special part of Flagstaff. “Among other things, it taught me how to wrap big packages for shipping, be a salesperson, teach on the spot, and be a tour guide.”
Ms. Rogers moved to Tubac, a small city south of Tucson, in 2005. It was founded in 1752 and was the place from which De Anza blazed a route to San Francisco, she tells me. “The history is wonderful, so I’ve also continued painting historic architecture.”
For the past 11 years Ms. Rogers had her own gallery, but she recently joined The Purcell Gallery so she can paint full time. She will also be teaching classes at the Tubac Center for the Arts in October, every Tuesday from 10 to 1.
On the subject of teaching Ms. Rogers says “Many people say they can’t draw, or they don’t have a creative bone in their body, or that they don’t have any imagination. I’d like to share that we are all creative — maybe not in art, but in cooking, or gardening or many other aspects of life The big secret is in learning to see again. That is the biggest part of learning to paint and I encourage everyone to give it a try! Pretend you’re a first grader — they have no fear and they know when they’re done!”
Ms. Roberts will be exhibiting at Art in the Park over Labor Day Weekend, September 3-5, in Flagstaff’s Wheeler Park. “It’s like a 3-day party where we can not only exhibit our lat- est work, but also experience creative expressions with other artists. Revisiting old friends, playing with family and meeting visitors to Flagstaff is the greatest fun.” Ms. Rogers will be showing prints, new miniatures and some new larger watercolors. You can also find Ms. Roger’s work regularly in the west of the Moon Gallery.
the Nöísẽ | THE BEST OF ARIZONA | SEPTEMBER 2016 {www.thenoise.us} • 18