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Gerald Roulette
179 Plays6 years ago
GERALD ROULETTE is native of Missouri and a graduate of Truman State University (BFA). He has been involved with art since kindergarten and was accepted into an art school in Arizona at 12 years of age.
Roulette studied art in Strasbourg, Austria under the tutelage of Dr. William Unger and Oscar Kokoshka. He has earned multiple awards for his artwork and has lectured at colleges, universities and high schools across the USA.
Roulette has worked as a high school 2-D art educator and football/track coach for 19 years. He has exhibited his work in the US and Europe.
A former NFL player, he has lived in Texas and moved to Portland, Oregon three years ago. “Art is my way of capturing life. My sketchbook is a diary. Colors are feelings, and each stroke is an experience.”
https://www.instagram.com/geraldaroulette/
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast and Guests
00:00:01
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host, Ken Valente. Editor and producer, Peter Bauer.
Metaphor of Being Underestimated
00:00:13
Speaker
Yeah, we were down 24 to nothing at the turn quarter. So it looked like people thought that they were going to be done. Oh, man. Oh, man.
00:00:30
Speaker
Yeah, once you mentioned it, then I was like, oh gosh, of course. I had some, I was a little, I spent some time with my youngest, my 11-year-old today. So I was kind of like, just seeing what's going on with the news, you know, what's going on with the store, with the scores. And then, you know, I was like, oh yeah, yeah, how about that?
00:00:57
Speaker
Yeah, I'm glad I have you. Thanks for doing this. This is great. Yeah, no problem. No problem. Yeah. Yeah. Let's get into it. All right.
Meet Gerald Roulette, Artist from Portland
00:01:11
Speaker
You're listening to podcasts something rather than nothing and this week we have Gerald Roulette, an artist based in Portland and he recently had a
00:01:24
Speaker
a painting debut at Concordia University called The Great I Am, which is something that I noticed and really stuck out to me. And it's a great pleasure to be able to talk with a longtime artist and to learn about his process and his relationship with art. I want to welcome Gerald Roulette to the podcast.
00:01:55
Speaker
Thank you.
Gerald's Creative Childhood
00:01:58
Speaker
So, Gerald, a question we start off most episodes is, what were you like as a young child? Were you always an artist, always an athlete, or what were you like as a young child? As a young child, I was really basically both. I always was very much into doing and drawing
00:02:24
Speaker
from even when I was in the kindergarten. And also very into the athletics of playing all different types of sports, running around the neighborhood. You know, when I was growing up, we didn't have, you know, these games and, you know, video games and things like that. So you pretty much played and ran around the neighborhood.
00:02:47
Speaker
And so you got a lot of exercise in. And so when I wasn't doing that, then, yeah, I would sit around and kind of draw and paint and do things like that. I grew up in a family. It was nine of us kids. And so I had six sisters and two brothers. So as I was growing up, we played a lot, you know, played a lot of sports. And, you know, they were very inclined musically. And I was inclined to art art wise.
00:03:16
Speaker
And I had to use my sisters sometimes as tackling dummies. So we had a lot of fun as a family. You know, you had grown up with that many kids. There's no limit to what you can do as far as getting involved in anything. So it was fun. I had a lot of fun as a child. Yeah. And I was obviously reading a bit about you in the background itself there. Is it fair to say that
00:03:45
Speaker
early on you're identified as kind of having artistic talent, was that noticed early on?
Early Recognition and Confidence in Art
00:03:52
Speaker
Yes, it was. When I was in grade school, I had a teacher, my first grade teacher really picked up on it and so I was chosen along with two other classmates to do a finger painting demonstration with the tempera paint during their PTA meetings and you know that was quite
00:04:14
Speaker
a reward for me to be singled out of the class and to be able to do that. And I really kind of just really stirred my more artistic side greatly because it was such an honor to be able to do that. And I know my mom and dad were very proud of me. And she saw that I was already noticing how to not only just come up with a composition, but one that showed some depth as well.
00:04:46
Speaker
And what forms of, or I mean, you mentioned the doodling and you just kind of developing a long time. What type of art forms in general attract you? I've seen you've done, you know, obviously paintings and I believe, you know, have taught and done some digital art, but also photography. Is all that accurate as far as like, you know, the types of art that attract you as an artist?
Exploring Art Forms and Inspirations
00:05:17
Speaker
Yes. All of those things capture my attention and I use all those different medias because I truly see all the beauty around me. I'm really big on people watching and exploring their expressions and their body language and the things that they're doing and then all the different nature things around. I love all of that. It's a passion. I feel like I get very emotional
00:05:46
Speaker
when I go to certain places and I see these scenic situations and so it stirs me and then I love when I go and I travel and I meet people or just see people interacting with each other or how they're just living and so those are the kind of things that as a kid I did a lot of drawings I was very into drawing soldiers and
00:06:13
Speaker
And things like that, you know, even from back in the Civil War, I just always kind of like really was into that, you know, so I did a lot of doing that and drawing, you know, so soldiers and Calvary on horseback. But as I was moving on forward, up in getting towards middle school, I began to draw more people and then kind of more situations of nature.
Turning Down Art School in Arizona
00:06:38
Speaker
And so that's how when I was about 12 years old,
00:06:42
Speaker
I had entered a contest for a school that was a art school in Arizona. And so I did very well. So the representative came to my home to meet with my parents and asked me to do some onsite drawings so that they could see that I did the drawing and was very impressed and came back later and offered my mom and dad a scholarship for me to come out there to go to school in Arizona.
00:07:10
Speaker
you know, a 12 year old leaving Missouri to go to Arizona to an art school. And, but there was no sports involved out there. That was not the ticket for me at the time. So yeah, parents were like, no, we don't think you wanted to go out so far away from it, especially at that age. So, but I was honored again that, uh, you know, someone was starting to recognize my talent early.
00:07:34
Speaker
Yeah, and you had mentioned as far as kind of some of the emotional impact of seeing people and being responsive to what you're seeing. And in seeing your work, what draws you median as the viewer is
00:07:52
Speaker
seeing the face of your subject, particularly in your portraits. Is that the draw for you? Is that what you're pulled into as far as recognizing that person or the emotion?
Capturing Emotion in Art
00:08:07
Speaker
Is it the face that pulls you in and that's what you're trying to draw out with your paintings? Yes, absolutely. It's the emotion in the face, the eyes and just the emotion people show.
00:08:21
Speaker
I think part of that was, you know, I grew up in the 60s doing the, you know, very kind of, you know, with the time of things happening in the country with, you know, the marches going on with Martin Luther King. So civil rights, you know, I grew up doing the civil rights there. As students, I know when I was in junior high,
00:08:49
Speaker
The school I was at, we walked out of school to go march at students to City Hall. You know, the riots were going on in different parts of the country. Also, we had a riot in Kansas City, Missouri, where I lived. And so there was always a lot of emotion going on. And so that just kind of stuck with me as far as like a draw of, you know, how can I express this in my artwork as well?
00:09:17
Speaker
And so I was always drawn into the people's facial expressions and either the joy or the pain or, you know, we know, thoughts, things of that nature. So doing faces were always easy. I also try to do, and when I do the full figure as well, with body language and those things like that as well in certain situations. So I try to put them in an environment where that would help enhance that as much.
00:09:46
Speaker
And so, yeah, those are the kind of things that kind of really stimulated me. And so, those just stuck with me. And from an early age, you had mentioned in particular with the opportunity there in Arizona, which was obviously, I mean, looking back for you as such a
00:10:08
Speaker
a huge you know what huge thing if you far away thing and then in the forces that that uh... you know there was into yourself you know what the belt the sports wise out there uh... you've you've been uh... you've been uh... an athlete you played football professionally in the nf l and uh... you're also from a very early age you know i can apply recognize and developing as as an artist
00:10:37
Speaker
Did you see these as two different worlds or did you see them connected or did you see that you're kind of just there two paths and you had difficulty connecting those paths?
Integrating Sports and Art Disciplines
00:10:51
Speaker
Yes. Now that's the truth. Early in my life, I saw them as two different paths and it was difficult to connect them. And so it was always a struggle.
00:11:05
Speaker
Uh, you know, as young, young kid, I played a lot of, I mean, I was, I was a three sport athlete. I played football basketball and ran track. And, uh, you know, I did for a while in the summer play baseball, but mainly those are the three sports that I, uh, excelled in in high school. Uh, but it was very difficult. I, I really struggled, uh, most of the time during the football season, that was the toughest, uh, with my artwork.
00:11:33
Speaker
Uh, just because of the nature of the physical parts of the sport. And, uh, you know, depending on, you know, how much difficulty of what happened to my body, you know, a lot of times my hands really get kind of beat up. And so it really didn't draw real well or something like that, or had some other injury. But when I, when it all connected is when I went to college. And so that's when it all made sense.
00:12:04
Speaker
That is not separate. They're not two separate paths, but one. And that's what makes me me. And what helped me with that was Dr. Unger, who was my mentor while in college and in life. And he showed me that, you know, the connection. And then I had other professors that also helped me with that in different classes. And it all made sense. And so because you need the same type of discipline that I had to put into sports,
00:12:33
Speaker
And the same discipline applied to, I allowed to put into the art. So then it became aware, you know, very, very obvious to me that I needed to connect these and they were all the same. And that's when I really, really started excelling even more because then I saw more of me understanding more of what I was about and that I wasn't two people, you know, but I was one.
00:12:59
Speaker
if that makes sense. Yeah, yeah. And I think it can. And I saw a big component of how you answered that within the dedication. Both of you are coming from you and you have this dedication and discipline around developing your talents. And of course, I've heard in your answers so far, definitely with
00:13:27
Speaker
You know, the role of a mentor or people, you know, kind of taking you aside and saying, hey, this is what I see in you. This is what I'm seeing helping you to answer some of those questions. Have you, yourself, I mean, you've received some of those things. What do you think is the role within art of, you know, between artists and, say, mentors?
00:13:55
Speaker
Do you think there's any sort of duty or a role as an artist to help mentor other artists? Maybe as you've been mentored, do you see it in those terms?
Mentoring in Art and Sports
00:14:10
Speaker
Yes, I do. I do. I think it's something that we all should do and give back, you know, to nurture someone. If you see that someone has that ability and that you can help them
00:14:22
Speaker
develop that, I think it is our duty to do that. It's the same duty I feel like in sports. And so how I end up, you know, I decided to go into teaching arts in high school and coaching football and track in high school. And that was my way of saying, you know what, I can give back. I've been blessed with these two wonderful gifts. So I said, you know, want to give back to others.
00:14:51
Speaker
and help them develop in all the things that they want to. And I've thought that over the years, you know, of course, again, I had mentors in both athletics and in art. And these people as well, they had, you know, were successful in the things that they did. And they gave me all these different skill sets to work on to better myself because that's what they had learned. And I think it's, I think artists
00:15:19
Speaker
I should always give back to other artists and help them. And it's very rewarding. It was really such a rewarding time for me when I was coaching and teaching high school because I saw their development. I saw the excitement in life. I saw even students that didn't think they had any ability. And once I was able to work with them and then bring it out of them, then they realized just how much they had and they actually stayed in the art department.
00:15:47
Speaker
And one of the biggest joys was that, for whatever reason, in Texas, art was considered more for women. So it was a big surprise for them to see a guy that played football also teach art. And I know that a lot of the parents, especially the dad that I say, how did you get stuck with this job? I guess they just needed you here to coach so they just gave you this. And then I would say, no, I'm actually really a professional artist as well.
00:16:16
Speaker
And it was such a surprise to them. And I got more guys interested in art that I coached in football. And so the department grew, and when they saw their talent, and man, you're talking about a reward to see that in their eyes and see their ability grow in the work that they produce. I just can't tell you how exciting that is. Well, I can hear it in your voice. And there's such power.
00:16:44
Speaker
There's such power within that. I find that in you having that intimate experience of you yourself experiencing that, being receiving that, but also kind of just the change in the way people think or the assumptions that people are making around art. So I can definitely hear it in your voice, the power that you have there in teaching and bringing folks along and saying,
00:17:13
Speaker
This is all right, particularly if it's part of you and part of your expression. So this is a question I ask, and I always think there's a particular answer for each artist to a way to answer it.
Art as a Calling and Gift
00:17:35
Speaker
But why do you create? Is this something you've
00:17:39
Speaker
always had to do when you were younger, you'd see something and you'd draw and you would create. Did you ever ask yourself why it is that you do create as an artist? I kind of asked myself that earlier in life, but as I got to know a little bit more about myself and then my spiritual experience of
00:18:09
Speaker
being a Christian and believing in God is that this is what I found. One of the things is, again, I kind of mentioned earlier that, you know, my family, you know, my dad and, and, and, you know, my mom, all those, my family members were really into music. My dad was a musician and brothers and, and some sisters and stuff. And then I had, my mom was into theater and then I had sisters, you know, she's still in the theater, but I was the only one that,
00:18:38
Speaker
really was into drawing. So I looked at it and said, you know, I was given a different gift than them. I have to tell you, I did try to play an instrument. I know in sixth grade, I tried to play the French horn. Of course, no one told me how difficult there was. But my dad, I was horrible. And so he looked at a music teacher and said, please make him stop. So he gave me one of those little plastic flutaphones to finish out my
00:19:08
Speaker
sixth grade career in music, but it, you know, I, I felt bad for a while because I was like, why can't I play like the rest of them, you know, music better. But, you know, my, my mom always said, you know, Hey, you've got a different gift. You know, you can draw, you see things and draw things. And, you know, and I guess it's just that there's just internal thing inside of you, the spirit of, you know, this gift. And, you know, you just feel this need to, like, to just really create
00:19:38
Speaker
what you see and then express it in different ways and have it be an expression of your voice being seen as a work of art. And so the more and more I went to that and I saw the response that people would say when they saw my work and stuff like that and it just grew because it was like, oh great, they really get it or they see it. What I'm seeing now. So that's the best way I can kind of explain that.
00:20:07
Speaker
Yeah, and being seen, you know, being seen and being seen for who you were, I mean, because I think it's very natural what you did is kind of say, hey, well, you know, the family trade, the family talent should, you know, it's music and I get to develop what the family trade is. And, you know, within what we talked about with mentoring, I mean, sometimes it's important for somebody to say, hey,
00:20:38
Speaker
No, no, no, no, you are. You can sketch your pain or you might not be, this might not be your calling. Right. So, and it wasn't, I have to say, I can laugh to this day. It was, it was very true and a very evident that that was not my calling. And, uh, you know, my, uh, brothers and sisters and my dad were very good with, with, uh, you know, joking with me in a way that I didn't feel horrible and I got it. And so I knew.
00:21:07
Speaker
And the thing was that, you know, my mom was encouraging, you know, about the art. She wasn't an artist herself, but she always could see beauty in things. So that was very, very big help for me because she was very, very encouraging. Of course, my dad was always encouraging anything I did, except for just don't pick up an instrument.
00:21:26
Speaker
Yeah, right, right. We're talking with Gerald Ruellette on something rather than nothing podcast, and Gerald is an incredible painter. We're discussing about various aspects about art, and Gerald, one of the big questions I ask in
00:21:54
Speaker
I've always asked it kind of in the middle of sequence of questions. We've been talking about art. We've been referring to things as art. Pieces they can make as art objects. But it's a pivotal question.
Art as Expression and Communication
00:22:08
Speaker
What is art? What do you think art is? And that's a very good question.
00:22:20
Speaker
No, it's really been, you know, art has become kind of controversial, I mean, these days. And, you know, it's kind of hard to say, but, you know, art basically, you know, is all around us. You know, there's different ways that people express in forms and formats and fashions of it done. But, you know, artists over the centuries have used it to communicate, to express their
00:22:50
Speaker
way of viewing life. You have to look at it is that it also was used historically to show us how things were during periods of time where there wasn't cameras around. That's the way we're able to understand the different periods of what people looked like and what they wore. Also, even as far as communicating on cave walls of what transpired during those periods of time. And then artists also worked
00:23:20
Speaker
considered scientists because they, you know, they were curious about everything. So they studied, you know, they, you know, they studied, you know, anatomy, you know, so they did a lot of drawings from, you know, cadavers and animals to get, you know, the, you know, true structures of everything and how things work. So art has really to me, you know, it's a way of expressing oneself
00:23:46
Speaker
visually and you know getting your word out or how you see things in life and so most artists want to get some type of reaction response no matter if it's negative or positive because they want the viewer to have a reaction and so to me art is used to want one again to communicate to be the voice of the artist and to get the viewer to make some type of
00:24:14
Speaker
reaction and response from what they're actually saying. So that's kind of the way, you know, other than the basic of, you know, the foundations of art, which is, you know, the elements of art and the principles of design, that's really what, you know, I try to teach my students and that's really kind of how I see art. I love doing the podcast with the teacher because I can just, I can just listen, I pull,
00:24:41
Speaker
I've mentioned in previous episodes, you know, trying to do popular philosophy and just kind of explore a passion of mine. But there is also a component of what I do just so I can listen to what some good answers are to these questions. But I got another, I got another, the bigger questions for you.
00:25:05
Speaker
uh... the title of the podcast is uh... it it has to do with the act of creation and you can answer that you will uh...
Philosophical View on Universe and Art
00:25:15
Speaker
art and otherwise but why is that why is there something rather than nothing joe well you know i i i can't read their bed and i thought about that and i thought that the people and i kind of did research on a guy called uh... lebanon and he was back in the six being hundreds you know from
00:25:34
Speaker
And so he posed some questions. He had these four questions for the logic of the argument of this. And one was that everything that exists has an explanation of its existence. And then the second question was, or I mean the second answer was, if the universe has an explanation of its existence, that explanation is God. And then the third one was, if the universe exists,
00:26:04
Speaker
And then the fourth one was therefore the extermination of the universe, existence is God. Now, you know, as, as I'm reading that and thinking that and thinking about my work and myself, uh, you know, one thing that, uh, you know, he said, and I say too, that we all can believe in the existence of the universe. We all know the universe exists, you know, nothing else. You, you do know that, you know,
00:26:32
Speaker
And so the other thing was as far as me, you know, because I do believe in God, I believe in God giving me this gift. And so therefore I feel like I create based off of the gift that I was giving my God and therefore my creations exist. And so for me, I have to work from something, you know, there are artists, I feel like can work from nothing, but for me,
00:27:00
Speaker
I work from something because that's the best way for me to create. And so then therefore, my creations do exist because I do believe that because God gave me this gift and anything I create is in existence within itself. So I am an artist that has to have something to see, to create. I don't normally create things from nothing, but there are artists I do believe that can create from nothing.
00:27:30
Speaker
And therefore, their work, I feel, still exists, but they're just creating basic from whatever is within them. And so that was the best way that I felt like I could answer that question. And I hope that makes some sense. But that's what I see and feel. It makes a whole lot of sense. And I really appreciate your answer. It's a beautiful answer.
00:27:57
Speaker
You know, part of the question I always ask, it tends to be such a huge philosophical, scientific, creative question, whatever way somebody's going to view it. But I just like it because we're talking about things being created. We're talking about art. We're talking about, you know, why are we doing these type of things? And the artist, I thought for quite a while,
00:28:26
Speaker
long time is kind of in this unique position that you would experience in creating art pieces where it feels like, okay, there's a blind canvas and I have these tools and I have these type of things and skills. And then there's something that creates this, and as you described too, an emotional reaction.
00:28:50
Speaker
you know, to the viewer. And there's a power that I think we always kind of struggle with or try to describe. And I just, yeah, thank you so much. I really appreciate your thinking and your answer to that question is very provocative. Gerald, one of the pieces at the end of the interview here that I want to get in, it's a little bit more
Gerald's Current and Future Projects
00:29:19
Speaker
uh... open-ended um... i i'm i'm lucky enough to uh... uh... in encounter uh... your art and uh... and what i want the folks to do a question to the podcast is uh... for them to know how to you know uh... whether it's interact with your interact with your art pieces uh... themselves it can you get some suggestions to long for the listeners as far as
00:29:46
Speaker
how they can find your work, how they can connect with you, see your work physically or online. Can you give us some guidance? Yes. Right now I'm in the process. I know I had a slow start from, you know, moving here from Texas and I haven't got everything set up, but I do have my artwork on display. I posted on Instagram, which is
00:30:14
Speaker
Gerald roulette at whatever the Instagram thing is on Instagram they can find it on there I am in the process of going ahead setting up a new website I'll be working on that this month and also I'm going to set up a site on tumblr as well my artwork other than right now they have the one piece there
00:30:41
Speaker
I'm primarily display on the second floor at Concordia University in the library. I have, so, you know, there's some pieces that have been purchased that are around in, you know, from Seattle and in Portland area in Vancouver, but those are all individual collectors. So I'm working on getting out more of that display. I have displayed my work at the brass work art gallery here in Portland.
00:31:08
Speaker
And I'm working on setting up another show for that. And also at Prima Salon downtown Portland as well. There was some work on display. So as far as interacting with me, you can, you know, again, right now you can contact me on Instagram or you can email me at, and this is all Laura Case, case the artist at sbcglobal.net.
00:31:37
Speaker
And hopefully, again, I'll have my website out. And you guys can see even more work working on some new works. One of the things I love to do is work on about two or three paintings at once because that kind of just keeps me very, very stimulated and really into the now. And so it also helps me generate a great deal of work. And so I would love
00:32:04
Speaker
for more of these listeners to get involved and ask me more about my work or to be interested in seeing some pieces in person. Oh, that's a lot of great options. I myself am looking forward very much to seeing your pieces in person.
00:32:30
Speaker
And I can offer you a gift of a very different sort right now. We had chatted prior to starting the podcast here about the Kansas City Chiefs going into the ASU Championship. I am an obnoxious New England Patriots fan. The gift I'm going to give to you is
00:32:55
Speaker
Uh, I, I will be rooting for the chiefs and, uh, you can, uh, that's, that's one small thing I can extend to you, Gerald. Thank you, Ken. We've been talking with, uh, Gerald who led on something rather than nothing podcast. Uh, I for one have learned a whole lot from him and I wanted to thank you, Gerald, for, for sharing, you know, your world, your art world.
00:33:21
Speaker
and your talents and making the time to chat this evening. It's deeply appreciated. And again, Wanda, thank you for your time. You're very welcome. And I really appreciate your time. It's been great and lots of fun. I have a big smile on my face. And this has been a great Sunday for me. Wonderful. Thanks so much, Gerald. And look forward to talking to you again.
00:33:51
Speaker
All right, thank you very much again. Take care now. Bye now. Bye bye. You are listening to something rather than nothing.