Harrison Public Library presents, “Transformations” by Rose James

Exhibition is on display November 5 to December 1, 2023.
An open reception will be held on Sunday, November 12 from 3 to 5 PM.
Gallery is open to the public during regular library hours.

Artist’s Statement:

I love painting with oils. I love how it feels as the paint goes onto the canvas. I love the smell. I love the way the paint works with itself. I love that it can be applied thick or thin. . . or it can be both at the same time. I love how the colors can be layered where one color peeks through another. I love the fun of it all. My inspiration comes from my years as a botanical artist. Although plants are the source, in my paintings I want the plants unique qualities to go beyond replication of the natural world. I envision these subjects, transformed by abstraction and playing with the paint on the canvas, as intriguing new visualizations. I want the viewer to see with new eyes. I want them to feel how the paint provides the discovery. Painting almost exclusively with a pallet knife allows me to change the reality of the subject. It allows me to focus on painting uninterrupted. Nothing is painstaking just spontaneity and joy.

About the Artist:

Rose’s work has taken a new direction. After spending many years as a botanical artist, she has returned to painting in oil on canvas. Her pieces are considerably larger and freer than her botanical work. Her primary focus is abstracting botanica using the elements of art: line, color, shape and repetition.

As botanical influences continue to show up in her oil painting, she uses her understanding of plant morphology as a foundation from which to begin working. She finds negative space relationships intriguing, and the juxtaposition of colors combined with the gracefulness of lines as inherently mysterious. Invention is often discovered through an accidental knife stroke or a surprise placement of unrelated color. As a work develops, her botanical foundation continues to find its place. Rose primarily works with a pallet knife which allows for a freer application of movement.

Rose’s work is held in both private and public collections, and she belongs to several artist societies. She was a juried member of and exhibited with the Buffalo Society of Artists. Her work was held in the Albright Knox Members’ Art Gallery when living in Buffalo and she has shown at the Chautauqua Institute’s International art exhibitions. She is currently a member the American Society of Botanical Artists where she has been accepted into their international shows. She exhibits her oil paintings with the Mamaroneck Artist’s Guild, Larchmont, NY.