We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Rachel Rowse a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Rachel, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Art has always been a part of my life. I was born with an eye condition called Nystagmus which is a fancy way of saying my eyes like to dance back and forth like I do. Due to my visual impairment I became extra interested in art and exploring expressing my self and celebrating how I see the world around me differently from a early age. When I was about to graduate from high school I decided to take a risk and go to school for art. Originally I thought about doing art therapy but quickly realized being a professional artist was really the path I wanted to follow.I was warned by many that being an artist wasn’t an easy career to chase. However, I was more than willing to take that as a challenge, and I’m so happy I did! Right before graduating I found a love for live painting at music festivals. I hit the ground running after graduating with that passion and started bring live painting out to other events as entertainment. I made it my goal to help bring fine art to the public and through this found many other ways to use my art to help celebrate the world around me. From pop up shows, to mural work. from graphic design to painting commissions. I bring my art to as many people as a I can and through that i have found a career I love! Because I took the chance to follow my creativity I now I live a life iv always dreamed of. I spend my days and nights blaring the line between work and play, adding color wherever I go as I help celebrate the world around me.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
HI, my name is Rachel Marie Rowse. I am a visual artist living and working out of Wilmington North Carolina. I am a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. I group up in Vancouver, BC and moved to Charlotte, NC when I was eleven. I went to school for art and graduated in 2018 from Appalachian State University with a BFA.
Art has always been a part of my life. I was born with an eye condition called Nystagmus which is a fancy way of saying my eyes like to dance back and forth like I do. Due to my visual impairment I became extra interested in art and exploring expressing my self and celebrating how I see the world around me differently from an early age.
As an artist I have been focusing on live painting and bring fine art out into the public in anyway that I can. For the last 5 years I have been live painting at varies music festivals across the south east. This past year a few that I did were the ramble fest in MD, Secret Dreams in OH, mountain music festival in WV and Casual Campout in NC. Out side of music festivals I bring live painting out to other events as well. Local I bring live art out to comedy shows, concerts, coffeeshops and anywhere really that I’m allowed to set up an easel. I aim to show others how painting is a form of entertainment as well. There is something magical about watching the process of an artist bring an image to life.
When I’m not live painting you’ll find me finding other ways to bring my art out into the public. Of coarse I take on commission work. The last two years I have been diving into mural work and public art. I did a Vinyl wrap in Carolina Beach as part of their Carolina Beach Mural Project. I also just did a handprinted mural for the Atlantic Towers Hotel in Carolina Beach. another easy I love to bring art out to the public is by doing pop up shows at local businesses. This year I showed at Bottega art & wine in Wilmington NC as well as bull city cider works in Durham NC. I also do gallery shows, last year I had a solo exhibition at 11oh9 gallery in Wilmington NC.
I have been helping others bring their art into the public as well. I art direct for several music festivals a year. I spent 2 years curating for the 11oh9 gallery. I am the president of the North Carolina section of the Pigment Sanctuary, an arts collective started in Princeton WV.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
I think a lot of society right now is realizing how much room there is for local art. In my work I focus on reminding others how fine art is for everyone. Hiring a live painter as entertainment is one way we can bring art into our communities. Another way is decorating our walls with the work of the local artist. Whether it be a print, an original or a mural. Art can really be added to so many aspects of our life. It’s not so hard to incorporate local art into our daily lives, and support artist and creatives in the process.
How did you build your audience on social media?
There are many ways to build a social media audience. What has worked for me so far is actually focusing on getting involved in the community. Through going out to shows and painting at local businesses I meet a lot of people in person. With these connections I have slowly built up an audience. I make sure to always have business cards on me , remind others to follow me and tag and share others work whenever I can.
Also through selling prints, and my originals i have found that if I include a business card as part of my packaging my new patrons often will follow me. People are awesome and seem to want to support in the ways that they can. A follow is one of the easiest most accessible way to support someone.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rmrarts.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rmr.arts/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/arts.rmr/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@rmr.arts
Image Credits
Silvertree photography for the photo if me painting the green mountain mural, Taylor Lewis photography for the photo of me painting in front of the rainbow archway. Parker daily for the photo of me painting in the crowed.