We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cindi Rhodes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Cindi, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I have always been an artist-designer, creator-maker, soul-searcher, and meaning-finder. As a very small girl, I spent hours on the shady side of the house creating beautiful and fun environments for my troll dolls and homemade “creepy-crawlies” to play in by picking out pathways and tunnels in the moist baby’s tears and creating furniture for them out of Crackerjacks and Shredded Wheat cereal boxes. I would wrap cheese and an apple in my bandana, toss it with my latest adventure book in the front basket of my rusty black 3-speed Schwinn bike, and ride it down the stairs to Santiago Park, climbing my favorite shaded Sycamore tree to read and dream the afternoon away. Back at home, the deep walk-in closet which was shared with my little sister, held a private pull for me. Secretly, I would pull out the built-in drawers, pull the chain, wait impatiently until the lightbulb was hot enough, and then break out the box of 64-Crayola crayons (the one with the sharpener!), to create a swirl of melted wax on the bulb that Jimmy Hendrix would play an encore for. (My mom however did not appreciate the mound of wax on the carpet below, but that is another story.) I became “that kid”. Yes, the one that cleaned the erasers, decorated the bulletin boards, and drew pictures for the school paper. Mimeograph chemicals were one of my favorite smells. My passions and talents were used for football players to run through, to advertise Homecoming Dances and bake sales and for the local Moose Lodge to perform their talent shows in front of. No creative endeavor was too small or too big. I made uniforms, dresses, handbags, painted leather goods, and packed the most beautiful Pepperidge Farm Christmas baskets that you’ve ever seen. I wrapped packages that made you think the package was the gift, not the thing inside. Needless to say – I was made a MAKER.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As much as I loved all things creative, I loved the outdoors too. Marine Biology was my first choice in college, but the math stopped me in my tracks. Of course, I had been taking art classes at the same time and went that way as “the path of least resistance”. After more study and transferring to three different universities the “commercial art” bug bit me. My dad said, “This is the only choice if you want to have a career in art”. So, illustration, graphic design, and photography were added to art history, painting, printmaking, and sculpture. What I found was that all my interests were fed into this one career path. Beautiful lettering, calligraphy, layout, literature, photos, drawings color theory – it was all used! Truly my heart swooned. I was commissioned to design the next recruitment brochures for the 1980 CSUF art dept. I started my own business while I was working on my MA. The next two projects were not as encouraging. A corporate identity and branding project for a Financial Investment Company that I got stiffed for, went to court, got the judgment and still never got paid. The next job I fired my client because the plumbing company just want a “rat with a shovel”, and I wasn’t going there. But, my next move was to Los Angeles in the music and movie packaging industry with all the collateral. I was on my way.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

The next decade was filled with 2-hour commutes, 12 to 18-hour days, and lots of work with amazing artists, musicians, and world-renowned companies. I loved what I did, but the hours and the commute were killing me. The work-for-hire contracts that were offered did not afford any benefits or insurance. It was not a safe place to continue into adulthood if I wanted a family life. The move back to Orange County was a safer move for my future. Computers also completely changed the way our industry worked. We no longer were able to rely on the expertise of Typographers, Typesetters, and highly skilled Retouch Artists. Photographers and Illustrators had to learn to use completely new tools in the form of computer programs. My last straw came when my best client, my bread and butter, asked me to copy an entire book using different imagery. “That’s plagiarism!” I exclaimed. “Well, if you don’t do it, I’ll get somebody else to do it” He snarked back. I closed my doors and focused on raising my two little boys. I knew there was something else for me, but I was in the waiting room. A few years later I was asked to direct the communications for a local nonprofit, which resulted in a new building in a prime location. So many details came together after a six-year wait. An opportunity presented itself, a place was available, the time was right, and the relationships were right. Seeds Fine Art Exhibits was born. It was a risk, my co-founder and I had no resources, just faith that this was the next right step to take. We were advocating for artists. We were giving them a place to show their most private and heartfelt works to a public that needed to hear and see what they had to say. That first exhibit was only one week long, but we were invited to have another exhibit in two months. Then another at a retail space in three more months. Twenty years later, Denise Weyhrich and I have just published our second book “Epitaphs – What Dreams May Come”. A biography of our ministry’s history and a catalog of our latest exhibit cataloging 74 artists addressing the question, “If you knew you were to die tomorrow, which artwork would you leave as your Epitaph?’

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Seeds Fine Art Exhibits remains an organization that loves and supports artists of all kinds and transforms galleries into sacred spaces. We are currently moving forward with “bringing the sacred gallery to you” via YouTube! Look for us there soon @seedsfineart.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.seedsfineart.org
• Instagram: @seedsfineart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SeedsFineArtExhibits
• Youtube: @seedsfineart

Image Credits
photos are all taken by either Cindi Zech Rhodes or Denise Kufus Weyhrich. 1. Cindi Zech Rhodes and Juan D. Estrada with painting “Krokis” 2. Group shot of artists and patrons at “Epitaphs – what dreams may come” book launch party. 3. Installation artwork “Crucible” By Cindi Zech Rhodes 4. Founders and C0-Curators (left) Denise Kufus Weyhrich and (right) Cindi Zech Rhodes with artwork of the late LeRoy Schmaltz.