Artist Spotlight - Roger Cutler

Of the many artists that have been in the studio space, Roger Cutler is one of the ones that have been diligently working to perfect their works from day 1. Roger is working on "Starry Flight," a Vincent Van Gogh inspired piece for sponsor and Crystal Flight partner Lowe Enterprises Real Estate Group. You can learn a bit more about Roger by reading on below or visiting his website at http://www.rogercutler.com/.

Roger Cutler was born in Washington DC and grew up in suburban Maryland. When I was younger I was interested in math and science. Although I briefly considered going into aerial photography after getting my pilot's license, I had no interest in art.

I first started thinking about painting when working on an animated computer project for a museum. While using a "paint" program on the computer that simulated the act of painting I began to wonder what it's like using real paint. A few years later I saw a friend's book on street murals and thought "hey if I'm painting on something as big as the side of a building, the fact that I don't know how to paint isn't much of an obstacle." After painting several large outdoor murals I started painting smaller pieces.

About the same time I rediscovered an interest in photography which really took off when I realized cameras are just gadgets I can take apart & modify -- even make my own. As a result I made cameras that can take a complete 360-degree panoramic image, put them on 20-foot tall poles, and launched them on kites. I've also had great fun experimenting with different ways of developing film using things you wouldn't normally expect to find in a darkroom like coffee, tea, and vitamin C. Because I've heard a million times "amateurs can't develop Kodachrome at home" I had to try it. A bit tedious, but it worked out pretty well for something that is supposed to be impossible.

For the last six years I've been planting and distributing thousands of sunflowers of all colors, sizes, and shapes. The project started on the roof on the Museum of Modern Arf where I planted over a hundred sunflowers to beautify the museum and its neighborhood. Two years later the project grew to the point so much I gave away over a thousand sunflower plants. Last year when Artomatic was in Crystal City I gave out thousands of seeds and 125 sunflower plants. This year is no different. As many sunflower seeds and plants will be given out as possible. The goal is to help artists to create art inspired by the sunflowers they grow. Later in the year there will be a "Vincent Van Gogh Sunflower Art Show" to celebrate. More information about the sunflower project is on www.sunflowerartfestival.com.