Rodel Gonzales and James Coleman Highlight the Endangered Arts Spring Show on Hilton Head Island

June 26th, 2008 rkadesch Posted in Hilton Head Art, Hilton Head Community Events |

A Rodel Gonzales original oil of a Lowcountry pelican called 'A Reflective Gaze'.

A Reflective Gaze. Rodel Gonzales, original oil 26 x 30

The Hilton Head Endangered Arts Gallery

Endangered Arts is my favorite art gallery on Hilton Head Island. Julie and Clay Rogers own and run the gallery that they started in 1994. It’s called Endangered Arts because everything they sell is signed and numbered, a limited edition or an original. When the art sells out, it’s gone! They sell magnificent art from about 25 different artists that includes paintings, glass and sculptures. James Coleman, Rodel Gonzales and Steve Barton were featured at their Spring Show on June 20 and 21, 2008. Barton paints colorful Caribbean scenes on ‘wavy’ canvasses. Rodel Gonzales and James Coleman paint the lowcountry. At the show, I had the pleasure to talk with them about their lowcountry art.

Rodel Gonzales Captures the ‘Mood’ of Hilton Head

Rodel Gonzales has captured ‘the mood’ of Hilton Head so well that his paintings have been featured on the covers of many HiltonHead Island magazines.

Rodel Gonzales has become a popular Hilton Head artist.

Rodel Gonzales at the Endangered Arts Gallery

“The mood of Hilton Head” he says, “is unique. It’s different altogether from that of Big Sur, Malibu or Hawaii. That’s why my lowcountry wildlife and nature scenes are very different from the tropical pieces that I mostly painted before I discovered Hilton Head’s natural beauty and began painting it. Hilton Head Island has its own character and beauty with the marshes, the blue herons, the egrets - even the color of the water. The colors are different from the ones in Hawaii - different shades of green. It’s a challenge for me to create a Hilton Head palate or mood. I love to discover the possibilities”.

Rodel Gonzales has captured the 'mood' of Hilton Head Island with this original oil painting, Stillness of the Night.

Stillness of the Night. Rodel Gonzales, original oil

The possibilities for Rodel’s lowcountry paintings have been outstanding. He paints Hilton Head wildlife with brilliant realism and amazing detail. However, some of his work is looser and more ‘painterly’. He says, “Painterly means that you don’t over paint it. It’s the very first interpretation of what you saw – your first instinct. It’s like hearing the hit songs. You know them right away. See those clouds? I capture the essence of them, paint their shape and color and then I leave them. I don’t keep going back over them.”

Asked if there are other artists that inspire him, Rodel says, “As an artist, I am also the fan of different artists like Daniel Smith. The internet allows me to see so many different artists, wildlife artists per se, that I look up to and I am challenged by their works.”

Rodel Gonzales paints Hilton Head Island 'As Time Goes By'.

As Time Goes By. Rodel Gonzales, original oil 18 x 24

His start in painting could be called painterly. He learned to paint from his father and he grew up in a family of talented painters. “When I was growing up, I loved to go to my father’s studio after school every day and watch him paint. It was the highlight of my day. Me and my cousins – my relatives - everybody painted! It’s a good thing that there were no video games back then. Things might have turned out differently.”

James Coleman Imagines and Inspires

Hilton Head Island was the first place in the South that James Colman ever painted. He came to Hilton Head twelve years ago and was “blown away” by the foliage he saw. He knew that he wanted to know this place better. “The Island has the beach on one side that goes on for as far as you can walk and then the wetlands on the other side. They are so different from each other and from anything else I know. Every time that I come here I explore and learn more”, he said.

James Coileman creates sanctuaries of massive oaks and 'Lowcountry Light'.

Lowcountry Light. James Coleman, limited edition giclee, 18 x 24

“As beautiful as Hilton Head is, what excites me with my art is to inspire people by taking reality, changing it a little bit and sometimes, making it a little bit better. I ask myself what would I want to see if I was standing in the best place I could imagine at a pond or a garden.”

In his lowcountry paintings, Coleman imagines natural sanctuaries of massive oak trees that surround fragile lily ponds that

James Coleman's use of dramatic lighting in his lowcountry paintings is inspirational.

James Coleman at the Endangered Arts Gallery

we can only visit in his artwork. Light shines through dark tree branches to serene water and colorful lily pads. We linger and absorb this peaceful world.

The interplay of light and darkness is a clear motif in Coleman’s work. He says, “People are drawn to dramatic lighting because it represents what life is - shadows and light that kind of battle each other. The sun goes down and you go through a time of darkness and then the moon comes up and you have that, and then - boom! - You have something with hardly any shadow at all! Dark and light is like the question: Is the glass half empty or is it half full? When you’re looking at a piece of art and you see the light come through - Is it light or dark? It depends on your experience in life. We might think this is really bad or we might think that life might really be a challenge but it’s going to be really exciting when we get to the other side of this. Of course, sometimes it’s not the kind of excitement that we want! The one great thing that we learn – and the Lord said that there’s going to be trials and we are going to go through those dark things but it doesn’t even matter, because in the end, as long as you can keep focused on the fact that you’re going through a trial, you will win! If you don’t get overrun by it or ruined by it, we win every time!”

James Coileman paints the lowcountry wetlands with a unique beauty.

Oak in the Wetlands. James Coleman, limited edition giclee 18 x 24

Coleman paints the words John: 8-12 in the bottom corner of some of his paintings. He says, “Oh, that’s “I am the light of the world; he who follows me never walks in the shadow but shall have the light of life.” I feel that that describes what my paintings are about. No matter where my paintings are, hopefully they inspire and give people another look at life. When you have a piece of artwork that you like, it comes to you from a place of light and inspiration. I put the John verse there because people ask me how I do what I do. I tell them I don’t know. I’m not the one who is really doing it. It’s a gift.”

James Coleman’s gift was first discovered when he took a job in California at the Disney mail room because of his interest in broadcasting - not for art. “I was a kid who had no chance of doing this at all. There was a show that anyone at the Disney studio could enter so I did a painting. An animator saw it and said that it was really good. I started working on my art and later became an animator with Disney and eventually became the Head of the animation background department at Disney. That’s where I learned to paint lily pads - during the first Rescuers I had to paint many of them.

“I could never have believed that I would have this kind of success”, he says. “I love it and my career is beyond my wildest dreams. I am very fortunate. I love trying to get more feeling and more inspiration in each piece and I want people to feel those same things.”

Note: All images are protected by copyrights. All rights are reserved by the artists.

Richard Kadesch, Owner and Broker-in-Charge
The Gated Community Specialist ®
Go Gated Realty ®
Hilton Head Island, South Carolina
Rich@gogated.com
www.GoGated.com
1-800-333-5025
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