Rothermel’s accomplishments read like the credits recited before an actor is given a lifetime achievement award. His artistic career was born with his first professional gallery show at Etage Gallery in Philadelphia in 1972, after graduating from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine, and he’s studied with some of the most important artists living today: Will Barnet, Brice Marden, Lukas Samaras and Jacob Lawrence. He got his first start in Las Cruces “art” as a sign painter for an outdoor advertising company, and has seen his first gallery open – and close. Rothermel is also an author and, in his own words, is in recovery.
“Since 1984, I’ve been trying to recover my true self as a spiritual being,” Rothermel reflects philosophically inside his Las Cruces home, surrounded by the well-known luminescent desert landscapes he is known for. “A few years ago I hit some major speed bumps in my personal life – issues such as age, security and finances finally surfaced after years of just cruising in stride.”
That sobering revelation forced Rothermel to enter into a new agreement with reality, the results of which can be found in a collection of pieces documented in his book, Desert Dialogues. “These pieces were done in that period of intense struggle and surrender, and they have inspired me to show up as my authentic self, defining my new intent no matter what life throws at me.”
The collection of art in Dialogues is very familiar to the style of Rothermel, who, having created hundreds of desert landscapes, says breathing life into another is never a challenge. “It has to be saturated color,” he describes. “It can’t be flat because the desert – the light – it’s just the most amount of light anywhere in the world because it’s the desert. What happens here is a result of when particulates of color, at certain wavelengths, vibrate because there’s no humidity to absorb the light – it just keeps bouncing around. That’s a pretty amazing thing.”
A new facet of Rothermel’s familiar works can be found in the materials he uses to create them. “Currently I’m doing some new pieces in acrylic, but they’re still landscape-based,” he says, alluding to the fact that years of exposure to the volatile chemical fumes found in oil-based paints have left him with severe allergies. “Aside from the health issues, one of the reasons I’m changing applications has more to do with the process and the integrity of paint; I have to surrender 50 percent to nature’s process, and a lot of times the paint tells me what I have to do, and the other half just comes together. Also, acrylics dry faster so I can be more spontaneous with the work because of the drying time. I just get lost in it.”
One part of the globe Rothermel isn’t lost is Aspen, Colorado, where the artist retreats in the summer to “refuel.” It’s a place where he has always “liked to get away. Things slow down during the summer in Las Cruces and this is my way – as a desert landscape artist – to rebalance myself against the cool backdrop of Colorado.” He also notes that he enjoys the arts of Aspen, where he has become a charter member of the Aspen Poets Society and is also a member of the Mile High Poets Society. “And,” he admits, “I exercise more when I’m in Aspen.”
On his most recent summer retreat, Rothermel had the chance to meet a fan of his, someone who had read Desert Dialogues, the collection of art which is paired with poetic prose written by the artist himself. “It was Sir Anthony Hopkins,” Rothermel says with a smile, adding that Hopkins referred to his work as “great writing. When you have somebody like him endorse your work like that, it’s not only gratifying, it’s indelible. Someone like him – who is a master of words and has such stature – when he validates your work, it gives you more motivation to grow as an artist.”
Still, even the endorsement of British knighthood is not what brings inspiration to Rothermel. For him, the greatest gift he can give himself is the act of inspiring others. “I enjoy helping other people grow – seeing other people grow. I’ve jumped through hurdles in life, and I like to be of service. That’s all a part of recovery.” It is also that kind of sharing that encourages Rothermel that what he does is more than just selling brilliant strokes of paint on a canvas. “It is my hope that the spirit of the desert will be alive on someone’s walls long after I’m gone. Hopefully I will have given life to the materials for them to enjoy several lifetimes later.”
David Rothermel will be celebrating the grand re-opening of his gallery this September, located at The Mercado in Mesilla next to Sol Imports. For more information, call 505.642.4981 or visit www.david-rothermel.com.
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