Traveling the Unknown Highway with Rocky Hawkins

“Out here there is nothing to distract my thoughts, except the temptation to work the land, but otherwise I can just concentrate on my painting,” he says.

Solitude and privacy are essential to Hawkins’ productivity as an artist. He works in the studio daily, while, Kat, who manages their fine art print businesses and markets his artwork, operates from an office in the basement of their cabin. They live a quiet life, punctuated by occasional visits with dear friends, a love of being outside, music, movies and books that inspire ingenuity.

“I have always thought an artist has to educate himself and this can only be done through his eyes … to create and to use your imagination one needs to be comfortable with isolation to a degree, and learn to be around only those who understand a creative temperament,” explains Hawkins.

At the core of Hawkins’ success — his resume of exhibitions, shows and awards spans
three decades and his collectors are varied in background, but loyal, often purchasing multiple paintings — is his penchant for hard work. He is devoted to his painting; it is
a means of self-discovery and exploration, so he pursues it as if on a crucial quest. His
fine art background has led him through a creative evolution, from commercial artist, admirer of Realist painters to the unearthing of his own Modern style. And the truth is, even if no one ever saw one of Hawkins’ paintings, he would still create them; they are a form of expression intricately woven into his spirit. He likens each painting to an emotional battle — a struggle to cross boundaries, surpass taboos and emerge triumphant in original experience.

It was this unique perspective that drew Nikki Todd as a young collector to a Hawkins’ painting almost 16 years ago. A gift from her parents to start Todd’s collection, the small work entitled Superhumans depicts four abstract figures in a milky blue-green mist with the nuance of horned headdresses or hats that imply a hunting party.

“What drew me to that painting was the shamanistic quality of it,” she says, pointing at the artwork, “but also my eye was drawn to this one hand — the detail and realistic
quality shows the talent of the artist in his understanding of composition and perspective.”