Making art a priority: Renee Roark-Gordon has opened the Gravel Hill School of Art in Burfordville

Renee Roark-Gordon integrates her passion for art into nearly every aspect of her daily life. Recently, she has channeled that enthusiasm into her own self-run art studio, the Gravel Hill School of Art.

Gravel Hill School of Art in Burfordville.Laura Simon

Located at 160 Route U in Burfordville, the building formerly housed New McKendree United Methodist Church but was put up for sale after the church moved. Roark-Gordon saw the opening and purchased the property with a creative vision in mind.

Roark-Gordon, who also owns Flesh Hound Tattoo Studio in Cape Girardeau, said she has been working for years to open her own art studio and recently was given the opportunity with the help of her art instructor, mentor and friend, Cleda Curtis.

"She is by far the most amazing artist I have ever had the pleasure of meeting personally, and I was so surprised that such a gem like that was right here, locally," Roark-Gordon said. "Basically, Miss Cleda changed the course of my life. ... Without her, none of this would have been possible."

Curtis, who operates the Cleda Curtis Art School in Oran, Missouri, helped Roark-Gordon develop her portrait tattooing and showed her "how to see."

"My passion for art and painting just exploded once she gave me the tools that I needed," Roark-Gordon said.

Pastels are seen inside Gravel Hill School of Art in Burfordville, Missouri.Laura Simon

Roark-Gordon said the studio will be a shared space between her and Curtis, who will conduct art seminars in the future.

With a tattoo studio and schedule, two children and being available full time for her church, Roark-Gordon said finding a balance among all of the things going on in her life has been difficult.

"There's not enough of me -- there's really not. ... But, you know, I love it," she said.

The building was virtually perfect for the studio, because the church already had a bathroom, a small kitchen, a broad open space (the chapel) and plenty of parking, so only small alterations were needed, she said. Roark-Gordon, who has experience studying historic preservation, said she wanted to preserve as much of the church's historical integrity as possible.

"You can't really recreate that, you know, when you walk in and you're just kind of overwhelmed with this real nostalgic feeling and you can feel the history. I don't want to lose that, so that's what I'm trying to preserve and keep and still use the building," Roark-Gordon said.

From time to time, Roark-Gordon said she will have well-known artists visit the studio to conduct classes and explain their techniques. The first scheduled visit will be March 19 to 21 with Don Sahli, who will deliver a three-day seminar covering the art of still-life painting.

Renee Roark-Gordon poses for a photo inside her new creative venture, Gravel Hill School of Art in Burfordville, Missouri.Laura Simon

Sahli is a professional American painter who began his work as an artist when he was a teenager. Since then, he has studied under such artists as Sergei Bongart, who was a famous Russian colorist.

"I'm so excited to not only be able to meet him, but then to also attend the seminar myself. And I'm looking forward to what's to come with others that are going to follow in the future," Roark-Gordon said.

Typically, people have to travel farther away to places in Tennessee and other nearby states to experience art seminars with higher-caliber artists such as Sahli, she said.

"It's opening up doors to people that might not necessarily be able to travel very far, but they're still going to get to meet these people; they're still going to be able to take these seminars," Roark-Gordon said.

She said she plans to teach adult art classes Wednesday mornings starting in March. In the summer, she plans to teach an art class for children, which will include more intensive art history lessons along with demonstrations of painting and drawing techniques, rules and color theory.

"I'm going to teach them everything that I wished I would have learned when I was their age," she said.

In the end, she said the best part is having her own space and studio to go to and regroup or relax after a hard day.

"I live a crazy life of running a business and dealing with people all day and my family -- I come here, I can do what I love here, and I can do it in peace. What an amazing thing," she said.

Eventually, Roark-Gordon said she hopes to be more selective about her tattooing hours and make working at the art studio her main concern.

"With this studio, I can make [art] a priority in my life, and not a lot of people get that opportunity to do that," she said. "So I now have another tool that I can use to further painting and do what I love."

For updates about class schedules or for more information, visit facebook.com/gravelhillart. To register for the seminar with Don Sahli, contact Roark-Gordon at (573) 979-3876 or email gravelhillart@yahoo.com.

lyoung@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3632

Pertinent address:

160 Route U, Burfordville, Missouri