Born in Nashville, Paul Roden was the only southerner in a family of Northeastern academics. He attended Washington University in St. Louis and received his MFA from the University of South Dakota. Shortly after that, he moved to Pittsburgh. Early on, Roden found comfort in the uncomfortable, and this continues to influence his artwork. Roden dedicated the first decade of his artistic career almost exclusively to woodcut printmaking. He then dabbled in design, illustration, house painting, and some writing. Today, he compiles the lessons he learned inside and outside the studio and focuses on positively contributing to the world. "Superficially, my desire is to make appealing and inviting images," says Roden. "The ends of this mean is to promote thought and dialogue about the subject matter—typically landscapes wrapped in metaphors."