Old Hotel's artist of month not unknown in community
Beneath the blue
Courtesy Photo - One of Natasha Rodelo’s favorite pieces is one of athletes in silhouette at Time Out Pizza in Othello. She did this work at the Central Washington University studio while attending college.
Courtesy Photo - Natasha Rodelo’s current body of work attempts to create a dialogue with the viewer through the use of shades of colors, as in this piece – Tinted Origins. The bottom of this piece could cause a different emotion than the top of it.
OTHELLO — Works by the Old Hotel Art Gallery’s November artist of the month, Natasha Rodelo, have been hanging about week. There will be an open house on Nov. 5.
Rodelo, an Othello native and resident, is not new to the community, although some folks may not realize that. There are nine sports-themed works of hers hanging at Time Out Pizza in Othello. The 10th work commissioned by the eatery is under way.
Rodelo, 26, has been painting about 11 years. She was inspired by her father, Jesse Rodelo, an accomplished painter himself. Jesse is more of a commercial painter, often commissioned for graphics, logos and murals.
Rodelo did not start in oils but in acrylics instead. She was told oil was a tough medium in which to work, and she couldn’t get that thought out of her mind.
“I was scared of it,” she said.
Rodelo, who graduated from Othello High School in 2008, continued to work in acrylics while earning an AA degree in general studies at Columbia Basin College.
The Hiawatha Elementary School teacher assistant was still doing acrylics when she checked in at CWU in 2013. It took her three years to get a degree in studio arts because she chose to be an English major.
“I like to read a lot, but I didn’t enjoy (English as a major) at all,” she said.
Rodelo switched to studio arts and finished out college. Her next step in education will be the pursuit of a master’s in visual studies.
“I want to teach art at the college level,” she said.
It was at Central in 2013 where Rodelo switched to oil as a medium. She took a class about oils and overcame her fears.
Rodelo is quite about her art. She has studied in Florence, Italy. There she was able to view the works of the renaissance masters, frescos on walls and Michelangelo at the Ufizi Gallery.
“I hope I’ll be accepted to the Pacific Northwest College of Arts in Portland for my Masters,” she said.
In addition to Time Out Pizza, Rodelo has done other commissioned pieces, including murals for baby nurseries.
Rodelo has sold about 10 paintings. The best-paid went for about $800, but it took some time to do.
“Oils take a long time to dry,” she said.
Five of the pieces hanging at the Old Hotel are from Rodelo’s latest body of work. In them she attempts to illicit emotions from the viewer through the use of colors and their shades. For example, red and its shades could evoke anger and then diminish that anger.