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Despite being surrounded by such inspirational settings, Roger says he got into art for all the wrong reasons (or as it turns out, maybe the right reasons). “Most artists are compelled to paint. If you lock them in a jail cell, they’ll draw on the walls. They’re born that way. But my artistic roots occurred, quite accidentally, in the first grade. One of the school books had a picture of a water oxen that I wanted to take home, so I put it up to a window and traced it so I could have it for my very own. After I had colored my traced oxen, the teacher came up behind me and commented on how good it was. It only occurred to me later that she thought I actually drew it. I was racked with guilt and torn between having been taught by my parents never to lie and the undeserved adoration of my teacher. To make matters worse, at the end of the day, the teacher handed me a sealed envelope to give to my parents. I thought the gig was up, that she knew I had lied about the drawing and this note was, of course, my letter of condemnation. The entire bus ride home, while the other kids threw spit wads, I sat there like a zombie, worried about the punishment that surely awaited me. Then it occurred to me that it would only be a lie IF I didn’t know how to draw. So I figured I’d better learn to draw and I better do it before I got home. So I drew like a mad man and produced as many drawings as a 45 minute bumpy bus ride would allow. Mixed in with the troublesome oxen drawing (damn my vanity, anyway) I had a somewhat rough but believable selection of art to show my parents. Almost as if an afterthought, I later casually gave the letter to my parents and then ran to my room, expecting the worse. But to my surprise (and great relief) they never said a word about it. I figured I got away with it.”
Roger’s parents soon enrolled him into painting lessons where he learned the fundamentals of layout, color and brush control. After high school, he received an Associates Degree from the Houston School of Commercial Art (now the Art Institute of Houston). And the letter? Twenty years later his mother still had it in a shoe box with other mementos from his childhood. When Roger opened the letter, the mysterious missive read simply: “Roger has an interest in art, you should encourage him.” All those years of worrying and all over an encouragement notice! Sure glad that shook him up and caused him to draw in a scurried manner on the bus ride home, or he wouldn’t be the artist we know today!
As life sometimes gets in the way, Roger had set aside his brush for almost thirty years and recently picked it back up, beginning his black and white series. His first of this series was “Rain Beyond the South Frio,” depicting a young boy who lives in Utopia by the name of Patrick Fisher. This is an acrylic 3x5 ft. painting, capturing both mood and emotion with strong visual contrasts of lights and darks. His particular favorite is “Waitin’ for the Coffee,” his first color painting in three decades. In this painting, the model is a local Utopian, the town telephone company repair man! His name is Coby Keith and Roger likes his face so much, he wants to use him in some more paintings. Roger mainly focuses on Western themes in his paintings, favoring textures of the Old West which you can clearly see on his canvas. The rhythms and patterns contribute a sense of visual movement and contemplation. He says, “The textures of the time period were part of the way one lived; the rough nature of the west sculpted the look of the people and you see it in their faces, their hands, their clothing. It’s tactile, interesting, and all about detail.” Roger’s talents range from 25+ years of experience in the special effects and film making industry to photography and painting. His passion for writing and science fiction brings his new novel “The Razz” alive (available soon through Amazon.com and his website). Check out Roger Evans Online Gallery
Original and Giclée’s (printing that offers one of the highest degrees of accuracy and richness of color in any reproduction techniques) are available. For further information, contact Brandi McAlister at 830-966-2481.