About Rodney D. Butler
A native Houstonian, Rodney D. Butler excelled at art, wood shop, and drafting, while attending James Madison High School. Then Mr. Butler went on to Tuskegee University, where he received a Bachelor of Architecture degree. While working for a local architecture firm after graduation, Butler realized the industry was headed in a 3D direction, so he decided to pursue an AS Degree in Computer Animation at the Art Institute of Houston. While at the Art Institute, Rodney realized that he was an artist at heart. This came to no surprise to those who watched him growing up. Even as a child he was always drawing and building things.
A few years after graduating from the Art Institute, Rodney also decided to take a welding class at Leisure Learning. There he learned basic techniques of Arc welding, Mig welding and Brazing. Taking these classes reignited the artist in him. He started collecting equipment and scrap metal and created a style of art he calls “Green Metal Art,” where he takes scrap metal and various other equipment parts that are unusable, or by normal standards considered junk, and recycle them into art.
Rodney’s work has been featured in various festivals, galleries and museums such as the First Saturday Art Festival, Houston Fine Art Festival, The Bayou City Art Festival, Houston Museum of African American Culture, Bert Long Jr. Gallery, The Kemp Center for the Arts, JoMar Visions, Texas Southern University Museum, The Black Cowboy Museum, Buffalo Soldier National Museum, Harambee Art Gallery, 45 & Art, Gallery Baroness, Adam and Madam’s Gallery Bistro Shop, Aurora Studios and Gallery, Hardy & Nance Studios, DuVin Pintor Art Gallery, Le Chateau, BR Vino, Insomnia Gallery, 310 Gallery, Rockstar Gallery, 9th Street Studios, San Antonio Art League & Museum, Art Machine Gallery, Lawndale Art and Performance Center, Breckenridge Fine Arts Center, National Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Leon County Art Trail, and countless underground art shows.
Artist Statement
I am a modern-day Renaissance Artist – I draw, paint, cook, and do architectural design, along with digital art and photography. While my paintings on canvas and Mixed media art are becoming increasingly popular, I’m now best known for what I call “Green Metal Art,” where I take scraps of metal and/or mechanical parts deemed unusable by most standards and weld them into various artistic shapes, forms, figures, and concepts. I believe in whenever possible take materials that may have been otherwise discarded and transfer them into beautiful art. It’s my way of recycling trash into artistic treasures.