Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Rowan Bathurst. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Rowan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear the story of how you went from this being just an idea to making it into something real.

Since I was 16, I always worked to support my art practice. As you know, painting can be a pricy investment so I often worked 2-3 jobs at once. I had every job in the books: waitressing, working at a salon, framing, nannying, line cook and so on. Once I graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art, I started to work with Charm City Cakes as a sculpture artist. This propelled me into more creativity and focus outside of that job and into my own practice. I started to create more and more work, and landed a few small mural gigs. Once I realized that the income from my art practice was as sustainable as my full time 9-5, I made the decision to quit and pursue my career in painting. It was honestly a very scary shift, to not have the safety net of a secure and reliable job position. But having support from friends and my partner, who is also a full time artist, gave me reassurance that if I just keep moving forward, things will start to happen.
The first year was shaky, it was a lot of testing the waters on basic things, like figuring out a stable schedule for myself, since I had all the time in the world! Other things like understanding the ebbs and flows of the art market, networking, doing the administrative work, promoting your work on social media, all of the logistics that I didn’t think about were hitting me. I had the passion and drive to create, but learning discipline with business management helped me move forward. Three years later, I’m understanding that: effort in is effort out. There will be highs and lows. But even during harder or slower times, you’re still moving forward.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I fell in love with art when I was in high school, before that, I’ve never touched a paint brush in my life. I knew immediately from then that art was my field. I went to community college for a while, testing out different practices like ceramics, sculpture, but always coming back to painting. I transferred schools and received my BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art.
Since then I have worked as a fine artist with galleries in Baltimore, MD. I’ve had two solo exhibitions here as well as being included in multiple group shows. I consider this my main practice, my home base . Working in the studio is where I always want to be.
I like to paint from my own photographs of close friends while incorporating elements and familiar landscapes from my time living in rural Brazil and backpacking, which is my other passion in life. Beyond my latest exhibition, my recent work focuses on creating a dialogue between present day women and prehistoric artifacts, particularly venus figurines and ceramic antiquities. Being inspired by these archeological pieces, feminist history, and our instinctive connection to the earth, I want the paintings to radiate warmth, sisterhood and a profound, innate bond that we share with our lineage. I hope my paintings invite the viewer to discover and praise that history we carry within us.

Alongside my studio practice, I have being working with murals, and quite a lot in the past year. It’s incredible to create and translate a painting into public work. My mural work is vibrant, cheerful and painterly. I think what sets my work apart from others is the consistency in maintaining a gestural quality of work on a large format. I lean away from graphic and design based murals and try to truly create as I would in my own studio on a 4 story building.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

One of the most important tools I learned was to follow up with people you meet. This can be a follow up email, text, or just staying in touch with people. This can help build a memorable presence and build a relationship with them. I also think asking for opportunities is so helpful, take the shot, send the cold email, ask away because the worst they can say is no. I’ve had many jobs happen because I put myself out there and just asked.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing myself evolve through the years. The work acts as a time stamp in my life- I can remember what I was going through, feeling, listening to whenever I was working on that painting. It’s rewarding to see how my style has developed, as well. As for mural work, it makes me incredibly happy to see that the community around the site are fans of the art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rowanbathurst.com
• Instagram: @rowanbathurst
• Facebook: Rowan Bathurst
• Youtube: Rowan Bathurst
• Other: travel instagram/blog : @rainhadamanteiga

Image Credits

Installation shot Vivian Marie Doering @vivianmariephoto