STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Bob Rodman studied electrical engineering at the University of Santa Clara. But he soon decided that science and math were not for him and so left to study ceramics, sculpture, drawing, pottery and jewelry making at San Jose State College.

While driving to Sun Valley, he was smitten by the view of the Camas Prairie against the backdrop of Soldier Mountain, which was cloaked in eye-popping white snow, as he drove down the hill from Gooding.

“I called Eileen that day and said, ‘I’ve rented a house,’” he recalled. “We’re moving back to nature.”

So, in 1970 the couple found themselves on the Camas Prairie living at the Hot Springs Ranch with Mother Earth News and the Whole Earth Catalog for bedtime reading. Bob milked goats and worked as a cowboy and, when he was done fixing fences for the day, he made jewelry.

Rodman was one of several artists showing and selling their works at a Senior Arts Exhibition Friday night at The Senior Connection.

More than a hundred people joined in the festivities, nibbling on shrimp, hot wings and taquitos while sipping wine and iced tea as they perused the art.

Tewa “She Sends” Evans, who curated the event, had several models wearing her reversible faux fur coats—what she called “one of a kind wearable art,” in addition to showing her paintings reflecting dream images and aboriginal symbolism.

She was joined by Don Yeager, who has created art ranging from automobile hood ornaments to precision cut story collages and Chris Evans, whose work encompasses oil, metal and computer art.

Artist David Rau has worked as a mold maker, sculptor, and special effects makeup artist. Poo Wright-Pulliam’s work has appeared on conservation stamps, and Deanna Schrell is an Arizona native and plein-air painter whose landscapes have been influenced by the Russian impressionist Sergei Bongart and the early California plein-air painters.

Kathleen Cameron, a native Idahoan, pursued a career in psychology and counseling while maintaining her passion for photographing birds and painting.

In recent years she added flower gardening to her list of passionate pursuits, and her impressionistic paintings of allium and sunflowers shown in Friday’s show reflected that.

“Flower blooms are so invigorating and peaceful,” she said. “I get carried away and find myself in another place. Initially, I hit the canvas with a big splash of paint—Whop! Then another Whop. Then I get very delicate.”

Cameron said she likes to paint so viewers can figure out a few flowers, like her sunflowers, while the rest is left to the imagination.

“It feels empowering and freeing to make up flowers, and it offers viewers some mystery,” she said. “I recently painted a blue flower that was not quite right, that was too dark. So, I lightened it up and named it ‘Vincent, I Love You.’ It reminded me of Vincent van Gogh, which melted by heart. It was life affirming.”

Rodman now lives the back-to-nature life he and his wife moved to Idaho for on a small acreage east of Fairfield where he and Eileen spent years building their “little straw bale house on the prairie.” But they make the trip to The Senior Connection weekly to take part in tai chi sessions.

Friday night he kept busy showing off exquisite rings featuring stones he had found in the hills and gullies around Pine and Featherville and other parts of Central Idaho.

“He’s real good at finding things,” said Eileen. “He goes all over Idaho finding rocks.”

Rodman has shown his jewelry at Boise’s Art in the Park, the Sun Valley Art festival and other art exhibitions. He’s worked for nearly every jewelry store in the valley, including Christopher and Co.

When he became interested in eagle and other raptors, he began using roadkill talons in his jewelry. With the passage of the Endangered Species Act, he had to stop using the real deal. But an invite to the University of Utah ornithology collection of 35,000 bird specimens gave him the opportunity to take molds from raptors’ toes using tin foil, dental impression material and silicone mold release.

“I still use these molds to produce sterling and gold pendants and earrings, paying intricate attention to each talon” he said. “The finished jewelry is beautiful and powerful.”