n0madical

A piece of a painting.  All is going well over here in Nomadical land. I’m just about finished with my first skateboard of the year and then I’m moving on to a large piece. I’m considering trying to film the next painting process using stop/ motion animation, but I’m not very sure how to do that. That is all for now.

This week I took a walk in the woods with Steven M. who is a photographer that first caught my interest by his wonderful bird portraits. He chose to interview and photograph me for his blog, Citizen Pork which is as quoted, ” citizen pork is dedicated to shining a modest light on the people who make cincinnati, ohio a better place to live:  artists, organizers, small business owners, visionaries, and altruists.”

I did not know what to expect from this meeting, and was incredibly touched when I read what he had to say about what I do in the art world. Please take a moment to read it. Enjoy!

I’ve linked it on the right side of the screen as well at, Citizen Pork on Robyn R

http://citizenpork.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2012-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&updated-max=2013-01-01T00:00:00-05:00&max-results=1

I made this booklet 8 years ago and I recently stumbled upon it and thought I would share it here.  What it contains is a collection of pictures clipped from magazines, my sketches and quotes from the books that have shaped me as well as my own writing.  This booklet set the foundation for what I paint today.  It is a journey from an unhappy industrialized world to a forgotten world, a world that I long to be a part of.  I hate trying to describe what I’m searching for because I feel that I am not very good at describing it, so I made this.  Maybe one day I can actually make it into a book.  Here are some pictures.

I drew the Yanomami girl with pencil and the collage images are from National Geographic.

A book I read called, A Language Older Than Words by Derrick Jensen had quite a few parts that stuck with me.  I’ll type out what I copied into the booklet so many years ago.

The Point Of Life

What if the point of life has nothing to do with the creation of an ever expanding region of control? What if the point is not to keep at bay all those people, beings, and emotions that we so needlessly fear? What if the point instead is to let go of that control? What if the point of life, the primary reason for existence is to lie naked with your lover in a shady grove of trees? What if the point of life is to taste each others sweat and feel the delicate pressure of fingers on chest, thigh on thigh, lip on cheek? What if the point is to stop then in your slow movements together and listen to bird song, to watch dragonflies hover, to look at your lover’s face then up at the undersides of leaves moving together in the breeze. What if the point is to invite these others into your movement, to bring trees, wind, grass, dragonflies into your family and in so doing abandon any attempt to control them? What if the point is to get along, to relate, and experience things on their own terms? What if the point is to feel joy when joyous, love when loving, anger when angry, thoughtful when full of thought? What if the point of life is simply to be?

Another sketch I made on tracing paper which is starting to fall victim to the glue from the tape I used to seal it into the book.  This is my own writing and to read it you have to turn the book in different directions. It’s a bit of a rant about the lack of connection that industrialized people have with nature.  The end line is pleading that there is no “1″.  As in no one right way to live.

I am striving for a human connection with plant, mud, insects and other animals.  I’m wasn’t making a campaign book about saving the planet I was only trying to escape from an old idea embedded in my culture where it is said that I the human being am separate from everything and made to rule over everything.

There’s something more, and I had to re-write this because someone wrote me and asked if I was suicidal.  No, of course not and it upsets me that my vision took that person there, but I guess I can appreciate their concern. My original ending paragraph was about death and expressing that I see a lot of my work focusing on dying.  In saying that please understand  I am not obsessed with it in a way that would make me want to end my own life.  In fact I have great respect for life and that is precisely why I paint what I paint.

When I first realized what death was I was 10 years old and it terrified me. Since then it made me question everything I was taught and steered me on a quest that isn’t even over yet. Am I still afraid of it? No, I’m inspired by it and it has helped me make some interesting things. Everything returns.

It’s been a minute since I’ve posted at my website and I apologize for that.  My laptop crashed about 3 weeks ago and so I’ve not had much time to post images here. I’m using my husbands computer and I’m trying not to crowd his computer with my uploads. Anyway I am still busy painting Nomadiskull masks for Etsy, but I am nearing completion and then it’s on to other endeavors. I have a new skateboard ready for paint, but I won’t be sharing any images of it until next October when I have another exhibit at MOTR pub. I’ve also started a poster of birds in flight which I hope to print and sell as tattoo flash.  The poster will also be a good reference for me because I am always drawing birds in my artwork.  If I am feeling real crazy I might even make a second poster of snakes, but that it not a goal for this year. I have a goal to complete 3 paintings, 2 of which will be large scale and sometime in April or May I’ll start making Nomadiskulls for the MOTR show.  Everything will be top secret until September when I’ll release some images to promote my exhibit.

Tattoos are going great as well.  Please visit the tattoo link to see new work or go to Facebook by clicking on the links on the right side of this page.

Happy Holidays and see you next year with a new fixed computer I hope!

I have created the first couple of the season of the Nomadiskull masks. Their names are Hugo and Hazel and they will be for sale on Etsy in a few weeks along with other masks that I have yet to make. Here’s a picture, but please visit my Flickr account under the links bar to see more views of them.
Also I’m having difficulties with the Facebook page for Nomadical Skate and Art Works. I cannot get into it to update it or add photos. I’ve addressed the problem to Facebook, but I have yet to hear or see any solution to the problem. I think I’m going to cancel the page once it allows me back in and allow followers to join my personal profile. I’ll make an announcement when that time comes.

Hello out there,
I had a really great exhibit this past October at MOTR pub and it looks like I’ll be showing there again next year. Thanks to all who came and supported the exhibit through out the month and a special thank you to Chris Shadler for inviting me to show work there and also Mike Montgomery for introducing MOTR to my work. I’m hoping to do something new for next year but I’m not going to give anything away just yet.
I spent a couple weeks away traveling in Guatemala which is absolutely beautiful. Now that I back I feel inspired and refreshed to begin new artwork and tattoo work. I’m going to paint a few Nomadiskulls and I’ll have them up for grabs at my Etsy store. I wanted to add that for those interested in masks I encourage you to check out Dreadful Falls USA, http://www.dreadfulfallsusa.com/. Dreadful Falls makes beautiful headdresses and hair pieces that look great with my masks. I am going to have to invest in one of their pieces to go with my own mask. Please take a look they are all handmade and beautifully crafted.

I’ll be adding prints and some paintings to the store as well. Please take a look towards the end of the month. That is all for now.

Friday, September 30, 2011

MOTR Pub  1345 Main St. in Over The Rhine, Cincinnati Ohio

Join us at the opening reception featuring skateboards and fine art paintings by Robyn Roth otherwise known as Nomadical on Friday, September 30, 2011 at 6pm.  The exhibit coincides with the Final Friday Art Walk in Over The Rhine.  Robyn’s art will be on display through the month of October, 7 days a week during business hours.

I hope to see you there!

I do not get many requests for fine art pieces like this as most people tend to go for Japanese inspired art or American Traditional tattoo art.  This was a nice change and it’s going to be a sleeve.  Marc Chagall isn’t a very popular choice in tattoo land so this will be somewhat unique when it’s completed.  I am looking forward to the path ahead.