CityView Magazine

MERGING BUSINESS WITH PLEASURE Three local artists discover that the Parade of Homes is a great way to show off their art | By Margaret Fisher Parade of Homes Art Contest in a first-ever partnership with The Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. The marriage of the two agencies has given Rodgers the opportunity to have his painting used promotionally for the 2010 Parade of Homes and placed on the cover of the tour’s guide magazine. Calvin Mills, the arts services coordinator at the Arts Council, said this year’s contest promotes the creation of art as a profession and not simply a hobby. “It’s showcasing to the whole community that the business sector supports and recognizes the value of art,” Mills said. The contest provided financial awards to the top three winners – Rodgers; Brandi Neighbors, second Place; and Edwina Clark, third Place. Natalie Woodbury, HBAF executive officer, said all of the 15 contest submissions I Rodgers, 67, said he selected different features from houses he photographed to create the one that became the winner. He said he believes it’s the colors and perspective of the home from the street that gives the painting an edge. Coming home | Rodgers’ watercolor Home Sweet Home was chosen for the cover of the Parade of Homes guide. were great, but Rodgers’ watercolor titled “Welcome Home” stood out because of its realism, coloring and reproducible quality. “It was the most realistic to reproduce and welcoming. It was a house that our builders build,” Woodbury said. Rodgers, 67, said he selected different features from houses he photographed to create the one that became the winner. He said he believes it’s the colors and perspective of the home from the street that gives the painting an edge. A Fayetteville native, Rodgers started coloring with crayons in the first grade, but he really began to work diligently with painting after retiring from work at the commissary warehouse at Fort Bragg in 1999. He had spent 17 years in Civil Service and two years in the U.S. Army. “I’m basically a self-taught artist,” he said. His training amounted to high school art, a correspondence course and countless hours of studying about the arts and artists, past and present, in the library. Early on, he worked with oil paints, but now he mainly uses charcoal, pen and watercolors. “For me it was a very slow process. It took me a very long time for my work to evolve to what it is now,” he said. He particularly enjoys painting portraits, landscapes, historical pictures, seascapes, CityViewNC.com | 25 t’s always a challenge for emerging artists to find places to show their work. They hope to get their art displayed where it can be seen by lots of people so that someone will decide to buy a piece to take home. Local artist A.J. Rodgers recently found a high profile way to show his art directly to the people who are most interested in what goes into homes. The Home Builders Association of Fayetteville (HBAF) sponsored the 2010 arts

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