This year’s featured artist at the Chain of Parks Art Festival is Robin Rodgers, a Talla hassee potter and North Florida native who draws inspiration from his surroundings and childhood.

Rodgers, 49, became fascinated with pot tery when he was a 10-year-old boy growing up along the banks of the Apalachicola River in Chattahoochee. He found a large Native American pottery shard and something about it clicked in his imagina tion.

“You can see the direct influence this had on my work,” Rodgers said before last spring’s Chain of Parks event.

“This perforation tech nique jumps off this pot and onto mine.”

After flirting with the idea of becoming an archaeologist, Rod gers decided to pursue graphic design while in college at the University of Montevallo near Bir mingham, Ala. In the late ‘80s, he studied art and ceramics in gradu ate school at FSU. He also briefly worked as a tour guide at Mission San Luis, where he lat er specialized in mak ing replicas of Spanish and Native American pottery. These days, he’s best known for colorful, animal-inspired pots that come in the shapes of woodpeckers, water birds and frogs.

“Robin is one of the most talented artists I know,” South Georgia potter Mike Henshaw said. “And he’s also one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.”