Artist Spotlight – Rhonda Gilliam

Rhonda Gilliam is an artist and painter based in Boyle County, and the newest addition to our Studio Artist program. Joining the Art Center in January of this year was another opportunity she found to say “yes” – an ethos that has led her artistic journey in recent years.

Rhonda grew up in neighboring Lincoln County and found inspiration along the train tracks running beside her house. It wasn’t the engines or box cars that caught her young artistic eye, instead it was the layers o

f colorful paint sprayed by graffiti artists somewhere far away from her rural Kentucky home.

“I would just go out and watch for the trains to come, to see the graffiti.” Rhonda has lived along train tracks until just two years ago. “I’ve spent my whole life watching graffiti go by.”

She thought the graffiti was so beautiful and would try to draw what she saw on paper. She 

also enjoyed drawing hairstyles which developed into a 27-year career as a hairstylist. 

While she is a medical coder by day now, Rhonda also spends time writing. She has published a book of her poems, musings, and prose and participates in writing workshops hosted at the library. 

Rhonda said she decided one day to go and see what a writer’s group led by Paul Stansbury at the Boyle County Public Library was all about, “and that was one of the best things I’ve done, and I’ve been doing that for a couple of years now. He’s helped me publish my little book of musings,” she said. It’s titled “Musings of a Stone Cold Genius”. 

She is currently illustrating a book of poetry Paul has written. 

Rhonda first became involved at the Art Center when a friend told her about our annual Tiny Art Show. She was a frequent visitor to the center but had never taken an active role here. “Once I did that, I was fired up about everything that goes on here. I think it’s just great!”

One of her favorite things to paint are what she calls “littles”, which were perfect for the Tiny Art Show. She likes to spread her materials out on the couch, turn on some music or a TV show, and just let the art flow. “The littles, they just doodle out, they just come right out,” she said. 

Rhonda has been painting for about five years and works in oil and acrylic paints. She likes to play with loose charcoal and pastels and try new things. She’s contemplating photography as another new medium to explore.

Rhonda has started an artist group with a couple of friends. It’s called the Creatives Club and they meet at the Jennie Rogers Community Center in the afternoon every second Sunday. It’s open to everyone to join in. They gather to work on personal projects or create guided by a prompt. 

While she said she’s not big on giving people advice, Rhonda does have one little tidbit that might help guide people in their creative journey, “Say yes to things. My life has been so rich because I’ve said yes to things,” she said.

“And sometimes even now, I’ll go down to the tracks and park there,” Rhonda said, as she waits she thinks, “Hmmmm, let me see what’s going by.”