His portraits stop the viewer. Those giant eyes are riveting, and so realistic. People gasp in awe. They have never seen anything like Scott Rohlfs’ Big Eye Beauties before. A room full in a solo show gave one viewer the creeps. “They are all looking at me,” she said. Others have asked for personal portraits made or custom tattoos designed. For the artist, Scott Rohlfs, life is truly grand.
Pop Surrealist, Scott Rohlfs didn’t think of becoming a professional artist, even though he loved to draw. In high school, he took all the art classes he could and received A+’s. He spent his time doing “boy” things like playing sports, and didn’t sit around drawing. He confesses most of his friends didn’t even know he loved art.
Life was not easy for the Rohlfs’ family. Scott’s dad deserted when Scott was two, and the family moved from Alaska to Manteca, California to be near relatives. His mom struggled to make ends meet by working three jobs. That left his older brother, Brooks in charge of the day-to-day existence. Scott remembers eating the sack lunches that Brooks fixed, while everyone else was dining on cafeteria food.
Though he has the artistic gift, Scott Rohlfs didn’t hesitate to go after blue collar jobs to help the family out. Upon graduation from high school, he worked in a fast food joint for a while, then got a job in a warehouse, which, as he remembers, was backbreaking, and going nowhere.
His life changed when he met and married Shelly. Scott realized he needed to be the bread winner, so he went to technical school, and came out an internet guru. Landing a job as an IT specialists for a fast food chain, Scott was finally making the money and enjoying life. During his spare time, He was drawing and painting. People liked what they saw, but he never considered quitting his IT job to focus on art.
In 2006, Shelly convinced him to move to the more affordable Portland area, where she had a corporate job. He could quit the world of IT, and focus full time on his real passion, his art. At first his style was all over the place. He was trying to find himself as an artist. Then he realized that he needed to focus on one style, and slowing develop it. He began painting in a Pop Art style with simple objects and bright colors. His work was starting to sell, but he became bored with the same things. That’s when he started painting his Big Eye Beauties.
At first he used photographs of Shelly as inspiration. Then he glanced through some of Shelly’s fashion magazine, and watched TV commercials looking for provocative women that would inspire his art. Slowly his skills increased. He began to add other elements, such as tattoos, flowers, and bugs. They were a hit, and Scott Rohlfs the Pop Surrealists was born.
Always wanting to tweak the style, Rohlfs has begun to make his art a bit more edgy, due in part to his love of the lowbrow art. The tattoos were a start to this transition. He has also begun using skulls, and even snakes in his art. As soon as the paint is dry, there is a request for one of his works. If the original sells, Scott Rohlfs will sell a print. One of his biggest print sellers is a portrait of a Beauty lying down with her still beating heart held in one hand. His work is in the homes of CEOs, and Ron English, a lowbrow artist who was recently at Art Basil Miami, owns a Scott Rohlfs.
Scott Rohlfs is available for commission work. He can be reached through his agent, Barbara Hart. Her email address is info@art2hart.com.
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