Trichechus Manatus
oil on canvas
48” x35”
2010
In this series of ancient tree paintings I attempted to express the beauty, strength and mystery of earth’s longest living organisms and the relationship between these trees and the survival of wildlife. I am fascinated with the unique qualities of a tree that has been standing for more than one thousand years with it’s broken, wrinkled forms, knotted hollowing trunks, covered with holes and wounds yet still growing and striving.
My love for nature and concern that these trees will be wiped out from our planet forever motivates me to use them as my art subject. I hoped to capture the incredible life force of these ancient wonders in paint. My ecological advocacy through art for these venerable trees.
Selected works from the series:
Angel Oak / Roble del Ángel, Oil on canvas, 30″ x 34″
Ancient Tree I / Árbol Ancestro I, Oil on canvas, 48″ x 28″
Deep in The Forest / Bosque Adentro, Oil on canvas, 40″ x 30″
Ancient Tree II / Árbol Ancestro II, Oil on canvas, 35″ x 35″
After visiting Van Gogh’s room and the village of Auvers-sur-Oise, I spent the day painting and sketching in the same fields where Van Gogh once painted.
Painting: The wheat field where Van Gogh ended his life. Oil on canvas, 8″ x 10″. While painting this scene I teared up thinking about what happened in this field and the sad state this brilliant artist had been reduced to. I brought home some stalks of wheat as a momento.
Coquelicot (poppies), a favorite subject of the impressionists, Van Gogh made several paintings of poppies. I saw them everywhere in Auvers-sur-Oise.
Another view of the wheat field. Oil on cardboard, 15″ x 12″. I still had energy to paint after 2 canvases so I used some cardboard I had for packing my canvases to capture one more view.
Path from the cemetery where Van Gogh is buried to the wheat field. Oil on canvas, 12″ x 16″.
The Van Gogh park down the street from the Maison de Van Gogh.
Danaus plexippus is commonly known as the Monarch butterfly. Recent illegal deforestation of the Monarch’s overwintering grounds have led to a drastic reduction in the butterfly’s population. Efforts to classify it as a protected species and to restore its habitat are under way.
Doris Rodriguez
Danaus Plexippus
oil on canvas
31″ x 40″
2009
Since 2004, Chelonia mydas (the green sea turtle) has been classified by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as endangered.
Doris Rodriguez
Chelonia mydas
mixed media on canvas
35″ x35″
2009
