Rod Skidmore’s masterful creations articulate both the rustic romance of man in the wild and the regal, highly focused energies of polo. While watercolors remain the bane of many an artist, Skidmore manages to express an exquisitely detailed vision all his own, striking a resonant chord within the hearts of his audience.
Although he painted and drew as a child and went on to become an art director for an ad agency in New York City for many years, he did not start painting polo images until he turned 58. It was a simple invitation that radically changed the direction of his brush.
While residing in South Freeport, Maine, Skidmore was invited to a polo match to benefit the Portland Art Museum. This was his initial encounter with the sport and he was immediately hooked. “The Down East Polo Club invited me to practice matches, and I started taking lessons from Eddy Martinez, a professional polo player from the Dominican Republic,” he says. “I took lessons for three years. Eddy never took payment for lessons and I decided to do a painting as a thank you. After that, some other members and friends asked me to do paintings for their loved ones.”
After completing his ninth polo painting, Skidmore received a call from Rolex’s US headquarters in New York City. To his surprise, they commissioned an original painting (that hangs in their boardroom to this day). He enthusiastically shares, “It was a great honor to do this painting and it was quite a wonderful feeling to receive the call.”
An unprecedented request came from Trout magazine when they decided to publish two of his paintings. These pieces depicted a beloved Maine fishing camp called “Cobb’s Pierce Pond Camps.” Up to that point, without exception, Trout only published photographs. The author of an article on Maine felt that Skidmore’s paintings beautifully captured the essence of the place and wanted his art to run with the article. In response, the magazine accommodated his request—making them the first paintings ever to be included in their pages.
Skidmore’s work will be on display at the art exhibition during the Lehigh Valley Polo event to benefit Equi-librium on September 18, 2016.
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