Los Angeles-based painter Andrew Roda is quickly making a name for himself in the world of Western still life. Fresh off of several other hit openings, the artist will present up to six new works at Sage Creek Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The works, highly detailed and richly painted, can take anywhere from 30 to 90 hours to complete. “I never start a painting without a fully formulated idea,” Roda says. “Sometimes things come very easy, and others not so much. Some subjects I know like the back of my hand, and other times I see something and get to be intrigued by it before painting, like a horse or a saddle.”
Packing Light, oil on canvas, 28 x 26 in.
Roda’s studio is in his 1920s Spanish-style home, where he has a glassed-in sunroom that serves as his studio. All around him are cacti in different varieties. “I’m obsessed with cactus. I have dozens. I’m so crazy that I have named them—like Augustus McCrae from Lonesome Dove or Johnny Ringo [from Tombstone]—and I’ll even propagate them,” Roda says. “I respond to cactus the way I respond to the West…from a place of love. I paint the West because I find the adventures and stories exciting.”
His & Hers, oil on canvas, 20 x 24 in.
The artist notes that the title of the Sage Creek show, Southwestern Americana, reflects his own feelings about where these Western objects, such as saddles and lassos, fit into the story of the West. “I see the Old West as part of the classic story of Americana,” he says. “There is a craftsmanship and beauty to these objects, and they tell a larger story about the West.”
Roda’s show continues through July 6. —
Sage Creek Gallery 421 Canyon Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, (505) 988-3444, www.sagecreekgallery.com
Powered by Froala Editor
