Jim Rolston’s abstract paintings are ferociously gorgeous explorations of color and form, while his deceptively simple statues are gentle and profound.
Jim was a passionate artist and an energetic leader in St. Petersburg’s arts community. He created art throughout his life, while working a demanding job and raising a family. When Jim approached retirement, he went back to school and earned a degree in Visual Art from Eckerd College, to prepare himself to be a full-time artist. He was a prolific artist working at his peak and constantly exploring.
In this conversation, recorded a few months before Jim Rolston unexpectedly passed away, he shares his thoughts on the energy of abstract art and the opposing tensions balanced in his work. He explains how deeply his artwork is influenced by the concept of yin and yang, and the Tao de Ching.
Jim served on the board of the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance and was co-President of the Professional Association of Visual Artists, a group that Creative Pinellas recently welcomed to our Arts Business Incubator. He talks about the work PAVA is doing, the vital arts community in St. Petersburg and the studios he created in the burgeoning 600 Block and the Warehouse Arts District.
His loss is deeply felt throughout the arts community.
Explore Jim Rolston’s art – pava-artists.org/index.php/project/jim-rolston and
pava-artists.org/index.php/2018/01/28/2cool-art-show-jim-rolston
Find out more about the Tao de Ching, by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu – with.org/tao_te_ching_en.pdf
Keep up with the Professional Association of Visual Artists and their popular juried exhibitions at – pava-artists.org
Find out more about the Arts Business Incubator program – creativepinellas.org/incubator
If you’d like to make a contribution to the Jim Rolston Emerging Artists Fund, you can do so through the St. Petersburg Arts Alliance at – stpeteartsalliance.org/donate-specific-project.
Arts In is produced by Sheila Cowley.
Executive Producer, Barbara St. Clair for Creative Pinellas.
