Contemporary landscape artist Ron Roland announced as featured artist of Cottonwood Art Festival in Richardson.
Roland Named Featured Artist for Richardson's Cottonwood Art Festival
Submitted by Jo Trizila
One look at Ron Roland's art and it becomesbrobvious that he likes trees and color -- perfectly shaped trees and beautiful,brrich color. Roland has been named the featured artist for the fall edition ofbrRichardson's Cottonwood Art Festival, to be held Oct. 5-6, in Richardson's Cottonwood Park. A park full of trees is an apt settingbrto display his work.
"I was tickled -- totally shocked when Ibrfound out. I have really good customers at Cottonwood," Roland says.br"I can't wait. I have a whole bunch of new stuff, a new body of work. I'mbrcalling it Flower Series -- it's a blending of the old with the new. SerribrAyers runs a really good show, and I have several good friends who show therebrtoo."
The Florida artist describes his work asbrcontemporary landscapes in acrylic impasto style on birch panels, noting thatbrhe has a "love affair with color and movement…I want my paintings to evokebrparticipation. I want the viewer to be plunged into the scene by the simple actbrof viewing."
"I paint larger-than-life treescapes using abrbold palette with high contrast. My style uses an altered form of impastobrpainting. That is, I use a brush -- and not a palette knife -- to build up thebrpaint to create texture.
His goal is "to show our sometimesbrconflicted and ambivalent love affair with nature. The trees are unnatural,brtopiary like, but they tower over the little houses in gigantic scale to showbrtheir perseverance."
The "old" Roland referred to is hisbrtree series. "The tree landscape series was started shortly after ourbrHurricane Ivan experience in 2004 in Pensacola. We were without power for aboutbrthree weeks. My wife, Suzanne, is also an artist who has shown at Cottonwood. Ibrwould sit outside my studio, listening to the chainsaws and worrying about mybrown trees. I decided to do an Ode to Trees, using this idea I had for impasto.brTrees overpower you in a storm, downing power lines and causing other damage,brbut a lot still stand tall."
"The treescapes have taken on a life andbrworld of their own. I began adding the little red-roofed houses after a roadbrtrip through the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah Valley in 2006. Theybrcompleted the scope I was hoping to show with my manicured giant trees. Thebrtrees are both majestic and dreamlike…and at the same time out of humanbrcontrol."
Roland started out at LSU as a civil engineeringbrmajor for his father, but "my love for art won out," he explains.br"Growing up in New Orleans, where my father was a construction worker, hisbrmain experience with artists were the people doing caricatures on the street orbrpainting on walls. He was worried about me making a living."
He trained at New Orleans' McCrady School of Art in the late 1960s. Hisbrearly art career included designing rock concert posters for The Warehouse andbrlayouts for the Sears catalog. He and several colleagues started PrimebrGraphics, which eventually became Sunshine Graphics. He ran the business for 15bryears and collected numerous graphic design awards, and also served as Directorbrof the New Orleans Graphic Design Association. His work can be seen at showsbrthroughout the Southeast and beyond. For more information, visit Ron Roland Art.
About Richardson's Cottonwood Art Festival
Richardson's bi-annual CottonwoodbrArt Festival, now in its 44th year, is a juried show. Jurors havebrselected more than 240 of the nation's top visual artists from 1,400brsubmissions to exhibit their museum-quality work at the festival. The artistsbrcompete in 14 categories: 2D Mixed Media, 3D Mixed Media, Ceramics, Digital,brDrawings/Pastels, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Leather, Metalwork, Painting,brPhotography, Sculpture and Wood.
The festival is Saturday, Oct. 5, 10 a.m. to 7brp.m., and Sunday, Oct. 6, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cottonwood Park is located at 1321brW. Belt Line Rd., one block east of Coit Road in Richardson, TX. Parking andbradmission are free. The artists' works are available for purchase; as are foodbrand beverages.
Children have their own escape -- to ArtStop,brCottonwood's hands-on, interactive children's area offering arts, crafts andbractivities for children of all ages. Although admission to the festival isbrfree, some ArtStop activities require a small fee. This year's newest activitybris Park Art -- kids will repurpose slices of fallen tree limbs from the park,brpainting them to use as drink coasters.
Cottonwood is more than just the art. Thebrfestival also features top local bands performing the best in rock, country,brjazz, blues, swing and folk, including headliner Prophets and Outlaws onbrSaturday evening. Check out the courtyard, sit in the shade by the lake, relaxbrand enjoy the music. Food and spirits are also available in the courtyard.
Whether shopping for art, listening to music,brenjoying the outdoors, or making art of your own -- Cottonwood has somethingbrfor everyone. For more information, visit Cottonwood Art Festival.