Into the Artist's world with Rosanna Morris

Welcome to ‘Into the Artist’s world’.

This month i wanted to introduce you to fellow Frome based artist, Rosanna Morris. Rosanna paints flowers incredibly beautifully. I have commissioned two paintings for the STILL Print shop which are now available to buy as A4 prints.

I chatted to Rosanna about her favourite flowers, morning rituals and more.

Enjoy…..

 

What is your morning ritual?

I’m an early bird and mornings are my favourite time of the day. If I’m not lolling in bed for an extra hour or so with a hot drink and reading to my eight-year-old daughter or, if she’s reading to herself, reading my own book, I love going out early before anyone else. This could be heading into the fields with my English pointer Elma or jumping in the car at sunrise to go on a micro adventure to a beach, a moor, or an interesting town.

 

What’s your relationship with nature? Do you draw inspiration from the natural world?

I grew up on a smallholding in Dorset and we had the loveliest cottage garden full of flowers. I remember running my hands through lavender and playing with flowerheads. I was outside in nature every day and this is something I try to continue in adulthood and with my family. While I live in a town, my daily walks take me into the countryside on the outskirts. But even in the town, I always take the longer, scenic route through parks, along the river, or past pretty gardens, catching the bright blue burst of a kingfisher, pausing to adore flowers over a wall, or taking in the scent of a lilac or rambling roses dangling overhead on a pathway. I’ll stop to take photos of an iris peeping out from someone’s front garden or a daffodil making a show in a flowerbed. I also love my allotment and draw lots of inspiration from my own plot (where I’ve started an iris collection) and those around me. Allotments to me are like one magnificent, giant patchwork quilt, with everyone’s different passions and ideas set out in little rectangles and then sewn together. I also visit lots of gardens, especially historic gardens, to fully immerse myself in plants and flowers, and spend time observing them.

 

Which is your favourite flower to paint?

A tricky question but there are two distinctive flowers that stand out for me: the historic Tulipa ‘Insulinde’ and Iris ‘Benton Olive’. These are both fleeting – they’re only with us for a few days in April and May but they make such an impression on me. Seeing the Benton Olive early in the morning, just as it has opened, is extraordinary. The colouring is like nothing else – and it’s exciting trying to capture these colours in my paintings. And don’t get me started on its scent…  As for the tulip, it seems so fragile and precious. Every time I look at it I see more colours, more markings, more movement. And then just like that both of these flowers start to fade… and there is something magical about their senescence, too.   

Are you self-taught or did you go to art school?

I’m self-taught. I always painted as a child but when it came to my studies, I pursued English literature and went into journalism. I feel that working on magazines dedicated to art and gardens as well as writing about art has been my education. I learned so much and was hugely influenced by the people and art I wrote about: from Basilius Besler’s incredibly beautiful Hortus Eystettensis and the cyanotypes of 19th-century botanist Anna Atkins, to the pottery of Lucie Rie and the work of The East Anglian School of Painting and Drawing (I often study the paintings of artist and plantsman Cedric Morris). It all came together two and a half years ago; I picked up a paintbrush and it flowed from there.

 

Tell me about your creative process. What is the first step you take when starting a new piece?

It all starts with the flower. It has to pique my interest. There has to be something special about it. And then I need to find its good side. If it doesn’t have a good angle, it’s hard to make it work in my style of painting. I then think about the block of colour I want to frame it against. Sometimes I lean into the darkness, trying out the moody style of Dutch Masters, and other times I’m drawn to the greens of a garden in which the flower is growing, or a colour I’ve seen on a wall or a door.

What advice would you give to an aspiring artist?

Create something every day and see where it takes you. And have confidence in yourself. My paintings always come out better when I believe I can do it. I love looking back at my first paintings and seeing how far I’ve come.