Hello! My name is Rose and I was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I love living in Milwaukee because I can walk out of my apartment and sit right next to Lake Michigan. I have a background in the visual arts, in both studio art and art history. My educational background is in Art History - particularly Early Modern Italian/Venetian painting (roughly 1350-1650) and the image of Africans/people of African descent in these compositions. In my art making I particularly love drawing, and I love finishing my drawings in ink. I also love to make mixed-media drawings. For these I'll use pencils, ink, gauche, colored pencils, pastels, charcoal, watercolor (and really any material I can my hands on) because these are the most experimental and playful!
My earliest memories of drawing and making art were when I was very young, maybe my early years of elementary school. After school I would watch tv shows and I would sit and try to draw the characters for the duration of each episode. I credit these early memories as the beginnings of my passion for art and making.
Today, I continue to draw every chance I get: on napkins in a cafe, scrap paper at work, in my sketchbook when on the go, or a large piece of Bristol paper in my apartment. Sometimes I doodle, sometimes I spend hours with a mixture of different materials to create something that is more "finished." Drawing and making my art is a means of staying playful and lighthearted. I make art for me and to get my thoughts on paper.
I want to teach drawing and the elements of art because I think a lot of people find (especially if they have no experience) that art is intimidating to learn about and to make. I am hoping that the Learners will leave my Workshop feeling good about filling a sketchbook no matter their skill level in drawing. I want Learners to feel relaxed when they create something or while they are observing their surroundings. And when they pick up their materials and draw in their sketchbooks, or anywhere else for that matter, I am hoping they do so with a sense of playfulness in mind. Their art is for them before it is for anyone else, therefore Learners should feel free to express themselves as they please.