During a recent extended trip to New Zealand, artist Ruth Rodgers was inspired to paint a number of her realistic landscapes in oil. But one day her husband was experimenting with the fluid acrylics he had brought along, and she found herself attracted to their bright colours and syrupy consistency. Just for fun, she grabbed a piece of his cardstock and started pouring. Hours later, she’d fallen in love with the game and generated a whole stack of brightly coloured abstracts.
So, what to do with these works, so very different from her typical work? Based on enthusiastic responses to the paintings from her 30-something son and his wife and their friends, Rodgers has decided to focus on an entirely different market for these pieces.
“Young people just decorating their first homes aren’t ready or able to invest in major, lifetime art purchases. They want something cheap and cheerful to bring a splash of life and colour to their walls. And they want it to complement their décor. The serious artistic community turns up their noses at that notion – buying art to match the sofa – and I get that. But on the other hand, why not? Art is to be enjoyed, and there are different stages and levels of that for collectors.”
At the upcoming Landing Artists show, therefore, Rodgers will not only be showing her new abstracts alongside her traditional realist works, but she is also launching a new abstract-art-on-demand service she’s dubbed ART4S (pronounced Art Force). The four “S” words implied by the name are Size, Shape, Spectrum, and Style, and the client can choose among options in all four categories, to suit their décor needs and preferences. The resulting commissioned painting is modestly priced at $1 per square inch (multiply the width by the length).
“It’s an experiment,” says Rodgers. “It’s a tough time for artists just now, as we are in what I think of as a demographic trough – older folks with the capital to buy are in a downsizing stage, not collecting; young people would love to collect, but have limited means. As a result, sales of original art are really down in the mid price range market. This new idea is an attempt to break through those limitations in a fun way.”
See Rodgers’ representational and abstract works at the upcoming Landing Artists show at the Gibsons Public Market Friday, May 17 (noon to 5 p.m.) through Sunday, May 19 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.).
Artists will be on site throughout the weekend.
– Submitted
