Cordell was commissioned to paint the artwork for the commemorative poster and t-shirt design for the 42nd Annual Corn Hill Arts Festival in Rochester on July 10 and 11.It was probably obvious to any of his school teachers.

They had a doodler on their hands.

It was a long journey from being the kid who was drawing instead of listening in class. But all the practice clearly paid off.

Fast forward about 20 years, and one of Cordell’s most recent paintings was selected as the signature artwork for the 2010 Corn Hill Arts Festival in Rochester. Four whimsical, sharply outlined figures interact with each other in early-twentieth century finery, complete with decorative hats that represent some of the Corn Hill neighborhood’s landmark buildings. You can see the influence of the late Rochester artist Ramon Santiago in his elegant strokes. The piece was unveiled at a signing today.

CordellHis success as a painter came relatively fast. Although he enrolled at Alfred University to study art and design in 1996, it would be nearly 10 more years before Cordell got serious about painting. He vividly remembers the day in 2005 when a creative breakthrough came.

“I had some large pads of paper, a few paints and charcoal, and I just went nuts creating probably around ten large paintings on paper,” he says.  “It seems that from that moment on I found my love for painting.”

Soon after, he approached Artisan Works owner Louis Perticone with two of his early pieces.

An untitled acrylic painting on MDF. Some of Cordell’s first doodles were inspired by comic books. It was his first frame of reference for drawing the human form. That early inspiration still comes through in his refined style.“He bought them on the spot,” Cordell says. “From that point, I was turning out five paintings a week and he was buying them.”

After his first break, Cordell later applied—and was accepted—to sell his work at the Clothesline Art Festival at the University of Rochester’s Memorial Art Gallery.

“That showed me what was possible and was a great motivation,” he says.

He’s been a full-time artist ever since. Beyond Rochester, Cordell’s paintings have been shown at festivals in Florida, New York City, and North Carolina.

His work is also now part of private collections from Palo Alto, Calif., to New York to Singapore.

“I am always working for my next show or online auction,” he says. “I want to create a huge painting for next year’s Artexpo in New York City.”

 

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