Edie Carpenter, Curator for Green Hill Center for NC Art writes
of my recent work, "Rod Cooper's small paintings of cyclones seen in
silhouette against a glowing horizon speak to man's fascination with nature's
power to seduce and destroy. Like the calm after the storm his new
studies of coastal scenes explore a different register of emotional response to
landscape.”
My show of current paintings, titled Life Seasons, in the shop at
Green Hill, opens March 15 and hangs through April 15. In these small paintings,
I have tried to capture moments in time, markers in my own life. I am
completely fascinated by the movement and forceful power of nature. My
paintings celebrate the colors of light and of darkness, and our solitude in
the face of it.
Carpenter has a keen eye. The past few years have sometimes been
tumultuous and stormy. The cyclone and storm paintings reflect that darkness
and sense of solitude. My most current work has veered away from darkness and
into a brighter palette of quiet acceptance, and silent movement. The newest
have a more abstract, ethereal surface, as I push toward the next phase of my
creative journey.
