The greatest influence on me as an artist was my father, John Rodriguez. My father lived for 10 years in a sanitarium for Tuberculosis before I was born but learned many art mediums while there. When I was a little girl I remember sitting at his feet coloring in my coloring book and my dad at his desk pounding tools on leather making purses, belts, and billfolds.
He taught me to tool leather, paint, then lace the billfolds and purses he made to sell. He was my first and best critic. Never saying he didn’t like something but helpful questions like, “Why did you choose that color?” He would ask me to tell him about my painting which made me think and use my imagination. I grew to find comfort and warmth hearing the gentle pounding or the smell of the fresh leather and sealer he used in his leather creations. After he passed away, I found other art pieces he created made out of pottery, ceramics, and jewelry with twisted wire. He continues to inspire me. My art will always display my surname because it connects me to my dad
My parents were born in southern Kansas where I was raised and where my influences were formed. Kansas is not only wide open plains but hay bales, close communities, small town values, cottony clouds, storms and tornados too! I love bold color and experimenting with the palette in many different mediums. I love color and bold designs, probably my Hispanic culture shining through.
C Rodriguez Allen 