Multi-talented creative, former dental assistant and Local Color artist, Roxenne Kendall, 70, specializes in free-hand wood burning, pen and ink drawings and watercolor paints. Kendall, who's originally from Decatur, Illinois moved to Missouri in 1979. She and her husband purchased a small farm and lived on their land for decades, raising two sons and a daughter
along the way. After forty years of maintaining their property, Kendall and her husband decided to sell their farm and move closer to the Joplin area during Fall of 2019.
Contrary to my assumptions, not to mention the immense detail of her works, Kendall stated that she hasn't necessarily always been extremely interested in art. She spoke about her experience as a younger woman, explaining that parking herself at home to hone in on artwork wasn't her focus until much later in life. Although, Kendall claims that she has always been a capable sketch artist "I was always able to draw. My father could draw, my mother, my sister and my brothers too." Fastforwarding many years, Kendall started creating 'Zentangle' drawings. By her definition these pen and ink drawings are essentially "doodling with a purpose." What started for her as a therapeutic means of relieving stress turned into hundreds of fine-ink, ultra detailed black and white sketches ranging from animals to eventually the entire alphabet.
Moving forward, Kendall eventually tried her hand at wood burning. These are the creations that would lead to her joining the roster at Joplin's Local Color Art Gallery. The idea was initially suggested by her sister, a career graphics designer. Kendall admittedly struggled to find an
efficient technique at first. Though in time, and with the aid of online tutorials and stepping up her equipment, she was eventually able to free hand sketches directly onto the tablets as desired. Aside from her wood burnings, Kendall works with watercolors as well. She considers her paintings to be a "fine art," whereas her burnings are by her definition more of a "craft."
All in all, Kendall's involvement in the arts is a similar and surely relatable story to many other creative types. What began as a pass-time stress reliever turned into a skill. Later, a recognized talent. From her cryptic, almost mesmerizing fine ink sketches (or Zentangles), to her ultra detailed wood burnings and gentle watercolor works, Roxenne Kendall's talents are not something to be overlooked.
