Peter J Rodgers

A world characterized by astonishing reflections and mesmerising shadows is probably the best way to sum up acclaimed contemporary landscape artist, Peter J Rodgers’ work, composed as they are amid powerful and evocative canvases which reach out and grab your attention. From Newcastle (Upon-Tyne that is – Rodgers’ homeland) to New York, the artist’s instantly recognizable style injects life and further exceptional layer to already pictorially intoxicating cityscapes, which he effortlessly makes his own with these signature, toweringly graphic illustrations of famous skylines (and streets beneath). Habitually rain-swept, umbrella-totting figures, making haste along slick pavements and thoroughfares which then in turn visually echo the lights and sounds of the city back out onto the canvas. And when Rodgers isn’t capturing the very essence and artistic splendour of these beautiful cities, he can just as easily be found painting pictures of transatlantic liners, themselves featuring more than their fair share of water as prescribed, whilst evoking immediate and redolent memories of Rodgers’ childhood, spent visiting Newcastle’s quayside with his father, taking in the majesty of these iconic ocean-going vessels.

Nearly always caught on the canvas in varying vibrant degrees of watercolour, Rodgers’ is clearly a passionate disciple to this medium and method of applications, as he goes on to say; “Watercolour is my favourite medium, although perhaps unusually I prefer to use strong, bold colours. I find it a more exciting and less predictable medium than others”, before adding; “It lends itself to the subjects I paint with its fluidity and transparent qualities making it ideal for rainy streets and dark reflections. Atmosphere is hugely important to me and watercolours allow me to create the mood I’m looking for”.Still based in his native North East of England, to Rodgers’ home is Jesmond in his familiar Newcastle, from where he’s never really strayed too far. Having trained as a commercial artist (or what’s more commonly referred to as a Graphic Designer) at Sunderland Art College in the 1960s, Rodgers’ has a very successful career in both advertising and design behind him, which eventually helped path the way to his current labour of love; and sole dedication to the brushes, watercolours and canvases of a professional artist.

Rodgers may deliver his compositions in varying styles, but his subject matter rarely doesn’t include moody Northumbrian landscapes, nostalgic beach vistas or (yes, rainy) promenaders and urban scenes in and around his beloved Newcastle. It’s fair to say, that over the past few years, his signature umbrella-clenching figures have almost gone before him, like some sort of Lowry-esque trademark which is seen visually indicative of the artist himself, on which score Rodgers’ adds; “For me atmosphere is the most important element in a picture and this is what I try to capture in all my work”. And there’s absolutely no denying that Rodgers’ peerless cityscapes are nothing if not deeply atmospheric and ambience-filled, which glow with an almost Dickensian opulence and ornateness thanks to his wonderful hues and saturations, despite being fixed very much in the modern day and age.

To date, Rodgers has overseen five successful exhibitions during the past few years here in his native Newcastle, whilst both his original pieces and reproduced print runs are available throughout the region and much further afield, courtesy of his tie-ins with galleries such as Whitewall and Fenwick’s ‘The Art Room’. What’s more, Rodgers’ paintings have found homes a long way away from both Newcastle and UK shores per se, as he can confirm that they hang from selected walls in locations such as Canada, France, Scandinavia, Russia, Spain and America to name but a small collection.