Interview
Eddie G Rosdhal
Eddie Rosdhal has always tried to follow the path of adventure, and his biggest dream is to spark an adventure in others. Eddie’s goal is to continue taking on life’s challenges, and interpret them through art.
Over the years, he has had the chance to travel the world, setting up art shows and working on enriching his photography skills.
In 1999, Eddie moved back to his hometown in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he set up 3 different art galleries in the Downtown Arts District. Currently residing in Florida, Eddie is helping with "Celebrations of Life" of St Paul, MN as an artist, photographer, and a designer for legacy ideas and book covers. Art and photography collections of Eddie’s work are internationally owned.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I've been creating art all my life, as far back as the second grade, when I was made to stay after school to draw pictures of animals with chalk for all the school halls. I always tried to teach myself about every aspect of art, enjoying surrealism, acrylics, watercolors, photography, sculpture, woodworking, or any media needed to create.
It was such a great time to be growing up in mid 1960s, during the great hippie years. I went to Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville, where I majored in biology, with a minor in art and chemistry. After graduation, I got married and set out for Life's Adventure. When my wife got pregnant and gave birth to our son, his vitals were not good. He was at Baptist Hospital for seven days, but eventually Justin died in our arms. During the next 3 years, I didn’t paint much but I learned a lot about life.
In 1985, I went to live with my brother-in-law as I tried to launch my art career with limited funds. Many years later, I joined the Broward Co Art Guild, where I was able to set up art shows all through South Florida. I also got very involved with Winston's Downtown Art District.
Over the next 15 years, I had 3 art galleries and delved deeper into photography. I was asked to do movie stills and set locations for a small adaptation of the book ‘Outer Dark’ by Cormac McCarthy. I also rented space at the Blacklion in Concord Mills Mall to sell my photography and art. I partnered with the Carolina Balloon Fest to do their photography for their balloon shows. I'm still helping Celebrations of Life of Minneapolis as an artist, photographer, and a designer for legacy ideas, Slices of Life materials, and book covers.
In February 2016, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and and went through 6 months of chemotherapy, which was another great life lesson.
In February 2018, my wife and I moved to Cudjoe Key, in the Lower Keys of Florida. Enjoying Paradise with a different mindset and wonderful scenery for photography and art, helped engineer more beautiful work out of my Studio. We have bought a home in a wonderful neighborhood in Palm Bay, FL, to start another great adventure. There is a strong Art Presence in the whole County of Brevard. This coast is also known as The Space Coast, and I have been planning one of my next journey paintings since I was a eye witness in 1986.”
“My painting ‘Legacy Of A Rose, Life Growth Through Adversity’, is my interpretation of growth in life. It took me years to finally finish the painting.
‘On the race track of Life, Mother Rose drops her petals on the Thorns of Life. As each petal goes on their own journey, all experience the thorns (or adversities) of Life. With each cut, most learn and grow as they keep on their voyage, and are filled with a richer, fuller life.’”
What inspires you most?
“Life is the thing that inspires me the most. I love the adventures of the journeys that we take in life. Life is a wonderful school in which we grow through our adversities. In ancient Egypt, the color red was associated with life, health, and victory. As each petal from my painting ‘Legacy Of A Rose, Life Growth Through Adversity’ goes on their journey, they start to form their own rose.
Notice that the thorns increase in number as we go through this earthly journey. We go through these adversities to give us growth. Some petals do not learn from the thorns and don't turn red. They don't grow and turn cold gray. They just think they have bad luck or the world isn't fair. The goal at the end of the earthly (or learning) journey is to make a beautiful rose for our eternal journey.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“About eight years ago, I started on a series of paintings on Dreams (shown below). Everybody has a dream in life that they hope to accomplish one day. My art dream is that I could be good enough to spark hope and dreams in others, and that if anything bad ever happened to me, I would come back as a better artist. It's been a great gig.
God has promised that with faith, dreams come true. He's our Puzzle Master. ‘The Gift From the Puzzle Master, Finishing Life's Dream’ was the first painting, followed by ‘Completing Life's Dream, Compliments of the Puzzle Master’. The third Puzzle Master painting was not as much of a Dream Painting as it was more of a Promise of Healing Painting. This painting is called ‘Cancer Healing: The Puzzle Master Promises, Aided By His Tools’, inspired by my sighting of two fire rainbows during my journey with colon cancer treatment. Fire rainbows are a beautiful work of nature and are not a common sight. I interpreted seeing both fire rainbows as the promise that everything will be okay.”
How would you describe your work?
“For some odd reason, I believe everything is alive. I started painting the Everything's Alive movement when I got to college. I like to try making the paintings fun, like a surfer surfing the water from the spout on a water fountain, or a hand holding a lit match in a hurricane lantern, or pilots flinging paper airplanes. I’m still using this in some of my paintings now. I just want to make life fun.”
What artists influence you most?
“I feel the artist that has influenced me is Leonardo da Vinci, from reading his notebooks. They show me that Leonardo took great time over his paintings to get the details correct. Sometimes the detail drives me crazy in a painting because it takes so long that to get it right. My painting ‘Legacy of a Rose’ took over over 22 days, 12 hours a day, to paint the chain link fence with a 10/0 brush, but I got it right!”
What is your creative process like?
"I mainly paint from my life experiences. I really have had a blessed life, but there have been some very hard life lessons. To figure out the point you want to get across, you have to take the image that is in your head, map it out in your head, including even the colors, before picking up canvas and paint.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“The artist’s role in society is to be able to tell a story of what’s currently going on in our social structure. An artist has the opportunity to make a statement that can be heard, and show people how to feel or think about life.
I've always been a positive person. I feel that my role is to tell society about the gifts of the Puzzle Master, to finish life’s dreams, and the promise of healing. My art is telling everyone about life's growth through adversities, and breaking out of life's bubble when it closes in on you. I'm breaking out with my paintbrush.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“I’ve had a number of good exhibitions at my downtown studios and at other galleries. My most noteworthy exhibitions were the private ones that would happen several times at the hospital gift shop where I worked for a short time.
During those 2 years at the gift shop, I would repeatedly see a young man crying in the corner of the shop. When I asked him if he was okay, he told me that his baby had just died. I told him about my first son dying after living nine days. I showed him my painting ‘Legacy Of A Rose’. I went through all of Justin's birth adversity, facing no insurance, mounting bills, burying my son, depression, and filing for Chapter 13.
I believe the rule in life is ‘If we meet someone who is going through an adversity that we have gone through, it is our responsibility to tell them how God got us through the adversity, and how He will do the same for them’. All those exhibitions were most noteworthy for me.
Some of the corporations and countries that own some of my art and paintings are:
• Republic of Equatorial Guinea, West Africa - Private Presidential 767 Jet.
• Presidency of the Republic Presidential Fleet - Equatorial Guinea, West Africa.
• Celebrations of Life - Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Hilton Hawaiian Village - Oahu, Hawaii.
• The Toro Company – Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Chamber of Commerce - Statesville, North Carolina.
• Wachovia Bank – Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• Cole Electric - Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• Mayor's Office - Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
• Rahn Manufacturing – St. Paul, Minnesota.
• R. Mack Harrell, MD, FACP, FACE, ECNU - President of the American College of Endocrinology.”
