About the Artist

In April 2017, three emergency room doctors said Roger Snell had a chemistry problem they could not solve.

The near-death experience sparked a new devotion to art, celebrating the beauty of life and second chances.

Roger is a Kentucky landscape oil painter who began his art journey with his first professional lessons, a solo exhibition, and his first sales within one year of his 2017 recovery.

“My biggest hurdle to overcome was fear,” Roger said. “The fear of failure, of painting in public, of painting outdoors with outstanding artists, and of taking that first workshop.”

Tracking this art journey and progress on each painting, Roger has created more than 125 YouTube videos celebrating beauty as seen through an artist’s eyes. The videos can be found by searching “Roger Snell” on YouTube or by going to "Blog" at rogersnell.com.

Roger retired in March 2021 after 20 years of helping farm families sell to chefs, grocers, and consumers as one of the pioneers of Kentucky Proud. The University of Kentucky honored him for lifetime service to these farm families with the Bill Best Award in May 2021.

In his previous 19 years as an investigative reporter, he exposed cops who owned crack houses. He won the Pulitzer Prize with a talented newsroom of reporters and the Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association, its highest award for reporting on the legal system.

Roger is the author of two books. ?"My first book in 2009 was about the ace pitcher who took the Cubs to the 1929 World Series, Root for the Cubs: Charlie Root and the 1929 Chicago Cubs."

"And then I reached death’s door in April 2017 and was given one more chance. My second book, Love, Grandpa, resulted."

As a full-time, professional artist now, Roger is a member of Plein Air Artists of Central Kentucky, Plein Air Painters of the Bluegrass, and among the first members of Kentucky Appalachia Outdoor Painters.

Roger lives in Frankfort with his wife Linda, daughter Hannah, and granddaughters Starlight, Ruby and Izzy and their father, Joshua Brown.