the featured artist for today is my dear, beloved rudi, whom you all know and love, but whom you might not realize is an artist and creator in his own right. rudi makes collage works on canvas and he is currently in the midst of a series of 100 works on the theme of water lilies. his website, one child’s icon, is where he showcases the works in progress as well as the finished creations.
because i love him, i can’t talk about him very well. :) this is how he describes his own life and work:
I was born 1960 in Wahiawa Hawaii to James and Margaret Ann, a military man and wife. My Father was my first Teacher of Art. One of my earliest memories is the two of us side by side with a coffee table book of Leonardo DaVinci's drawings. We spent many hours painting and drawing together and both he and my mother hung every crayon covered piece of paper I brought home from school. By the time I finished High School in Boonville Indiana , Art had become a large part of my personal identity and with the awards I had won it was part of my outward identity within my home town as well.
I studied art at Western Kentucky University. I started working on paper and what I was producing did not fit well into the academic structures definitions, it was not painting, drawing or sculpture but a blend of the three. However, my work there flourished under Leo Fernandez and John Warren Oakes who gave me freedom to explore and grow.In 1985 I took a part time job at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center unloading trucks and running follow spots for Rock and Jazz performances. It was my spotlight work that got me noticed and when the staff learned I was an Artist they started pushing me towards lighting design. A year later I designed and operated my first performance, a Nashville only concert By Stephan Grapelli and Vassar Clemmons. Since then my work has been seen by hundreds of thousands. I have designed for Nashville Opera, Tennessee Dance Theatre, Acme Moving Group, Dark Horse Theatre, and countless Music and Video events while on staff with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt. I have taught Lighting Design and Stagecraft for The Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts as well as Humanities Outreach in Tennessee. I have also managed productions For groups such as Mockingbird Public Theatre and Nashville Shakespeare Festival and took great pride in helping to provide the structure for other artists to create. I especially want to thank Mac Pirkle for the opportunity to create and participate within Tennessee Repertory Theatre. It was there I learned my own sense of narrative and the joy of connecting with an audience.
When you see my work you are tasting the feast of my communion with hundreds of artists- dancers, singers and actors. It is what we shared, what we gave to others that has created who I am as an artist.
the good news for fans in middle TN is that one child’s icon will be having a holiday open house on saturday, 10 december, from noon-3pm, so while you’re out shopping for something special, please swing by and see what rudi has on display! the open house will be at echo gardens, 1210 howard avenue, in nashville. some of the works will be available for purchase, and rudi is willing to make a special deal for anyone who wants to take one of his pieces home that day.
NOTE: THIS EVEN HAS BEEN POSTPONED AND THE NEW DATE WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON!
*buy local, buy handmade buyers hack: even if you can’t buy anything at a show, the artists ALWAYS appreciate your presence, so please don’t let your budget stop you from attending a gallery opening, studio tour, etc. one of the ways you help artists the most is by giving them your encouragement and goodwill. besides, you can always bring along a friend who is in a buying mood.
