In his early life, Forrest Rodts called many places “home.” He finally settled down in Marblehead more than three decades ago after establishing a successful painting career. Since then, he has left his artistic legacy on the town in more ways than one.
Rodts is originally from Pennsylvania. His family moved multiple times during his adolescence, including stops in Connecticut and Ohio. Rodts graduated from Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. in 1983. He majored in economics and minored in studio art. However, Rodts never planned for his hobby of painting to become his career path, and tried a couple avenues before he finally found his calling.
“I was trying to get into advertising and nobody was hiring,” Rodts said. “So I went into investment banking. I hated that, so I pursued an acting career in New York for a couple years. And that gave me a lot of time to paint and I realized I was a much better painter than an actor.”
Despite all the places Rodts lived in his early life, there was one constant location that served as a major inspiration for his art.
“My mother’s family was originally from Nantucket,” Rodts said. “We always went down there when we were kids for a couple weeks and then my mother inherited the house so we could spend summers down there. We had moved around a lot but that was kind of the constant that was our ‘hometown’ kind of place.”
Nantucket’s influence resulted in him taking on the style of “nautical realism” in his art career.
He first joined the Artists Association of Nantucket, before developing an art gallery of his own on the island. The market for his work was apparent.
“My gallery on Nantucket was the best,” Rodts said. “I was able to build on a career and get ‘known’ down there. It became a very good art market down there and it panned out. I couldn’t imagine being in a better art market than that.”
The transition to Marblehead was a natural one, as Rodts’s nautical and beach themes fit in well.
“I joined the art association here and started putting stuff in here,” Rodts said. “I also got my prints in Gene Arnold’s gallery. He was really great, they would take pretty much anything that I had.”
Rodts’s harbor-adjacent home is decorated with many of his works. His studio is located on the third floor, where he is still crafting new pieces. He did not hesitate to indicate what his favorite painting was: a portrait of his wife, Linda.
“I’m still amazed that it came out that great,” Rodts said.
Rodts explained a personal philosophy he has, in which he tries not to be too nostalgic for certain paintings. The portrait of his wife is the exception.
“I feel that whatever I do, I’m hopefully getting better with each one. So I let it go, and move on to the next thing,” Rodts explained.
Since moving to Marblehead, Rodts has also undertaken the art of music. He is a guitarist for the band Better than Nothing and has been doing local performances for the last 18 years. He and five friends make up the group.
“We are better than nothing, we keep our expectations low,” Rodts joked. “It’s just a side gig.”
Rodts noted that he keeps his endeavors in painting and music separate, but they both continue to influence the culture of Marblehead with the same artist at the helm.