Hello, I am Rose
I am a small, full-time artist simply looking to connect.
Picking up a colored pencil at the young age of seven, I had no idea the impact it would have for the next 20 years. Being the eldest of four siblings, and a cousin we babysat regularly, I was born into a life of responsibility and the position of leadership. I learned early on the task of sacrifice. Mental illness ran its roots deep into the family, something I would not quite understand until my preteens.
At the young age of 14, I lost my best friend to suicide. At the time, I had graphite pencils in my hands pretty consistently, but after such an event, it turned into a constant ritual. The veil of innocence that childhood gifts us, was torn away. Everything that was bright became dim, and everyone I loved I no longer trusted. Acrylics became the norm, and I was AWFUL at it. I was too impatient, trying to reach this unattainable level of perfectionism in a short amount of time.
One night, I sat alone in my cold, basement room, grieving my losses. About two years after losing my friend(I do not remember the years in between), everything came back in full force. Just pain and anger. In that flood, I would pick up my acrylics and paint all night. I presented this painting to my high school art teacher, and she convinced me to enroll in the Colorado Art Awards. I won the Gold Key. At the time, I was too ill to be at the ceremony. Even so, it was one of the biggest impacts on my choice for a future career.
Everything was going well, but as we all eventually do, I fell in love and got my heart broken. To this day, I am grateful for the discipline I developed, because working kept me going. Well, that and the partying. In my screwed up mess I found art again. Work, drink and paint. That was my life for the next few months. Anything to keep my mind off the person I thought I would marry.
That’s when the resilience kicked in. I started to learn to choose myself. This turned into a six year battle, as I did not learn how to do anything for myself, well, ever.
I have spent the last five years, raising my son. In this time, I picked up the paints, this time- oils. My love for art ignited again, and I have absolutely surprised myself. Charcoals on paper was bringing shapes to life, and blending oils fueled the perfection tendencies; acrylics became fun and easy, and digital work helped bring ideas to life!
I remember being told by a distant relative, that art wont make me money. I felt everything in me deeply shift, and I spent a lot of time thinking about how I could do exactly that.
The idea of tattooing came to mind one day, and there it stayed. I walked into a tattoo shop at the age of 18, looking to get a tattoo that I designed. I walked out of that shop with an apprenticeship offer. Another mark had been made. Being young and dumb, I would be let down by three mentors by the age of 20. The last had a staining impact that still stings on occasion. I decided to close that door for now, and should it open again, I might try again.
That experience did not go to waste. The following years, I put my head down and learned what real work was. I developed discipline, from getting up at 3am to make it to work to taking on another full time job. I was consistent in the gym, and eventually rented out my own place. I bought my first nice(ish) car, and I became a manager at my job. No, I was not drawing at this time, I put it down. Every stroke I tried to draw stung me with memories I didn’t want to remember.
Designed using Procreate, then printed on white vinyl topped with a clear waterproof layer. 2 ¼ inches across and 2 ¼ inches long.
All of my original paintings are fueled with either pain or happiness, they are either full of life or death(sometimes both), they are heavily inspired by music as well. I get my best ideas during emotional states, and music helps bring those feelings into words, and those words are then translated into pictures. It’s all about sketching out and designing the ideas after that. That is ultimately what RoseGold is built upon, the foundation of balance and music. If you care to hear the combination together, find me on TIKTOK, where I edit my music inspirations to my work. If it speaks to you, feel free to leave a comment and let me hear your story!