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By Gabe Stern
Hometown Weekly Intern
For Cindy Rudolph and Chris Roberts, passion for art has been an evolving process. While they both have been interested in painting since their adolescent days, it has become a priority for both of them since they both retired from their nine-to-five jobs.
Thursday night at the Westwood Library, Rudolph and Roberts got to show off their years of hard work at a gallery that they organized. Elevated on the walls of the lobby were 24 of their favorite paintings from over the years. All but two were up for auction.
Chris Roberts (left) and Cindy Rudolph (right) met through adult education art classes. The pieces at this art show represent years of hard work for these two. Photos by Gabe Stern
“We both paint nature, natural things and also texts that are meaningful to us.” remarked Cindy Rudolph.
Despite sharing many of the same same art classes, artistic styles, and even items that they paint, there are role models and periods of time in both artists’ lives that inspired them to pursue their passion.
Rudolph, who credits her high school art teacher for giving her confidence in her painting abilities, continued her education at the University of Denver. It was there that she realized the only classes that she truly enjoyed were those in the art department. Her biggest challenge today is to retain the lessons that she learned back in her high school and college years, but she still feels like an art student decades after she completed her last college class.
“I always say I’m a perpetual student, so the more I do, the more I realize I have to learn. It inspires me to keep going.”
Chris Roberts was inspired by her grandmother, whom she never met. She was intrigued by some of her grandmother’s leftover art that she found at a young age, and credits her talent to her.
“I grew up knowing I could do art … I was lucky to get the gene.”
Despite Roberts’ artistic passion from an early age, she went to school for dental hygiene, saying it felt like the more practical career at the time. What she didn’t know at the time, however, was that it was through one of her patients that her passion for art would reappear.
“One of my patients introduced me to a woman who’s a teacher of watercolor. I ended up doing little workshops on Cape Cod and Maine, but eventually I went to France and Italy.”
Both Roberts and Rudolph’s backgrounds led them to the Westwood library, where close friends and family of both artists came to support their years of hard work. Rudolph described this gallery as a “journey” that took years to come to fruition.
Although both of their lifelong journeys were so different, both artists credit their families, friends, attendees and each other for making their photo gallery a possibility.
“[It was] just a team effort that really worked out,” Roberts said.
