Pelicans On Parade (POP!)

Oregon Arts Commission.

National Endowment for the Arts.

Klamath Falls, Oregon
Benefiting Birds in the Basin
Through the Arts and Community Outreach

POP! is endorsed by the Oregon Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts

POP! Artist
Leslie Rodgers

Photo: Leslie Rodgers with Pelican.
(Photo by Kathy Larson)

POP! pelican: "Sky Above & Sea Below"

POP! sponsor: (Needed)

POP! location: Frames-N-Things, 1205 Klamath Ave., Klamath Falls

Biography: Leslie was born in Sweet Home, Oregon, and is a member of the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. She began painting and drawing early in grade school, when she was ten years old. In fact her Mother said that she did more drawing than work, and in school had "doodle drawings" all over her papers.

Photo: Whale detail on Leslie Rodgers' Pelican.
(Photo by Kathy Larson)

Later she attended Shasta Community College in Redding, California where she majored in art. At first she studied watercolors, but then switched to oils. She loves detail in her artwork, which made her watercolor teacher mad.

"When you paint in a certain style, don't let someone change you," says Leslie. "Always create from your heart and what you feel, and that's where the art comes out."

Leslie had a gift shop in Keno,Oregon where she taught painting for several years.

Her favorite images are of whales and eagles which are her "totems." She especially loves the sea, and says if she could, she would live underwater. She likes to scuba dive, and has been inspired by undersea scenes off the Oregon coast and in Hawaii.

"Some day, I'll dive with the whales," she says, as she gazes at her paintings of Orcas, Humpbacks, and Belugas.

In 1990, she purchased "Frames-N-Things" in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and has worked there for six years. She and her husband, Clyde, expanded the original shop to include an extensive art gallery where local artists display a variety of art works.

Among the artists that Leslie has encouraged is Bev Fairclo-Ott who has painted three of the POP! pelicans, and whose works are a prominent feature in the Frames-N-Things Gallery.

Methods used: Leslie likes to paint in oils best. She says her Native American artwork has all sold. Her current works include tropical fish, turtles, whales, eagles, and flowers. For her POP! pelican statue, she incorporated her totem images of eagles and whales.

Artwork on display:In Klamath Falls, at Frames-N-Things Gallery; at Rare Woods Gallery and other galleries in Bandon, Oregon; in private collections across the U.S.; and whale artwork in Japan!

Photo: eagle totem.
Eagle totem (photo By Kathy Larson)