I help the human spirit to sustain & expand our instinctive connection to nature's healing energy through Visual Art, Workshops and Expressive Arts Therapy
Rose provides artwork, education and inspiration in order to heal the human spirit and our connection to Nature through the expression of creative activity.
Grounded in my own wellness journey, the alchemy of Rose L. Williams nature centered healing Art will transform your suffering into peace, despair into comfort, misfortune into wisdom and homes into healing sanctuaries.
Visual Artist & Certified Expressive Arts Therapist, Rose L. Williams critically investigates interstices between creative activity, trauma, transformation and aesthetics. Rose's paintings and photographs raise awareness around Wellness, Allopathic & Natural Medicine and the health of the Environment. Grounded in a 40 year career in Photography,Rose incorporates Botanical and Eco Printing, Natural Dyes and recycled textiles into her Mixed Media Paintings, Collages, Prints and Custom Fashion design. Her current subject matter embraces images of the natural world; trees, water, birds, fish and leaves; the healing qualities that are embodied within; the extinctions they face and their symbolic associations with humanity. Projects incorporating Biophilia, Phenomenology, and Environmental activism keep this artist's work relevant and representative of a 21st Century artist’s perspective.
As a child I was often ill with asthma,. One night at age 6, I woke with a dream that I was compelled to capture visually. A strong instinct directed me to paint on a vertical surface ( like an easel) so I quietly pulled my desk from against the wall and painted my dream image upon the side, pushing it back when I was done. The image was a large tree with sweeping branches and leaves, a female figure curled up alone among the roots and grasses. The impulse fulfilled, I remember going back to sleep feeling very satisfied and relieved.
Participating in a group exhibition of artist's who identify as disabled titled; Extraordinary Lives Extraordinary Art, my piece was a reflection of my life at the time, a nightmare of medical dismissal and experimentation. Over 3 panels of a Triptych oil painting I had depicted myself on my knees, in the nude, with Frida Kahlo helping me insert an IV needle into my arm, splayed out on a surgical table and walking into the ocean dropping a hospital gown. There were numerous comments that it was shocking, disturbing or pornographic. But there were also many comments about how profoundly it moved others, including from noted scholar John Ralston Saul and then Governor General of Canada, Adrienne Clarkson. One comment was from someone who had a relative who suffered chronic illness in their lives. They had believed themselves to be sympathetic and supportive until they saw my painting and read my artist statement and had an epiphany. Realizing that they had intellectualized and justified their beloved’s suffering my work helped transform that disconnect into embodied emotion, empathy & tolerance.
They connection is the experience of suffering and the act of channeling creative activity through pain, transforming it into story, empathy, connection and healing.
My personal story reflects the courage it requires to overcome the obstacles of a disabling condition with grace while maintaining the Spirit of a Warrior. My artwork uses components from Nature to represent beauty, balance and healing in an often painful, confusing & challenging world.
Williams is a Canada Council Creative Research Grant recipient, Graduate of Emily Carr University, Certified Expressive Arts Therapist, member of Kickstart - Society for Disability Arts & Culture Vancouver and the Art Society of Trinidad & Tobago.
Parker Street Studios
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Rose L. Professional studio has been established at 1000 Parker Street Studios since 2000. Her association with the creative activities in the famous building began in 1985 working with colleagues at Wizard Graphics and Peter Gorman Studios. She has been an active participant in the yearly open studio Art Festival organized by the Eastside Culture Crawl from it's early inception as a simple artist's cooperative venture. We welcome thousands of visitors to tour our studios and meet the artists.
Photo Sharing: Viewbug.com
Rose began her visual arts career studying Photography in 1979 when darkroom technology was still a requirement. Commercial line cameras, photography studio management, location shooting, developing and printing analog film and customer service were fundamental to her professional development. Technological innovation has transformed the Photo industry and Rose continues to shoot Digital format. Photo sharing sites encourage creative community building.
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Kickstart Disability Arts
Rose is an active member of Kickstart Disability Arts & Culture, a non-profit arts and advocacy organization aimed at promoting the creative output of artists that self identify with a physical or developmental disability. Rose is a veteran and survivor of Severe Stage IV Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis and over 20 abdominal surgeries herself and acts as a peer mentor and advocate within the Endo community.
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VIDA.com Custom Slow-Fashion & Accesories
Sustainable and Environmentally responsible practices are the fundamental backbone of Rose L. Williams Arts philosophy. Selected paintings and photographs from Rose's collection are mindfully translated to high quality, custom created fashion, accessories and housewares. VIDA partners with fair trade, locally sustainable producers, supports worker's rights and education and maintain an environmentally soft footprint while successfully keeping high quality as their signature.