Tim De Rose – Artist

Tim De Rose’s Landscapes are a narrative about trees and their environment, the forest—a subject that is a powerful muse to him. Exploring what it is to be a tree, De Rose attaches meaning to their lives. Painting trees is his way to think about and define their specific role in the universe. By creating symbolism, he looks for relationships and the language they use to communicate.

“I paint in a series with a style that is constantly evolving. I stay within that style until it lets me go. Creating the narrative is more important to me than trying to be a camera, so I don’t allow perspective, colour theory, or representative techniques take over.” These are some of the series titles: Dreamers, Caught in the Headlights, Camouflage, Interior Forest, Roadside Forest, Park Tree, Edge of the World, Solaris, Totems, The Tree of life, Cedars, Olive Trees, Wind Rows, The Grove, Party Sumacs and Salmon Road.

De Rose begins his sgraffito technique acrylic tree painting process by photographing arboreal subjects, looking for striking compositions and arrangements from which to base his paintings. He starts with a line drawing to solidify his composition. From there, the painting begins and a style takes shape. Energetic textures and patterns start to emerge by a meticulous application of layers upon layers of colour. Using sgraffito, a scraping technique used by potters, patterns are further defined. Here one can clearly detect an essence of De Rose’s early roots in clay, and a potter’s sense of the tactile.

De Rose began his arts career in the realm of pottery. As his skills grew, so did the range of projects he took on. These involved hand building, architectural sculpture, low relief decoration, ceramic wall panels and functional items. These clay canvases were etched, sculpted, and glazed in such a manner that they eventually morphed into something approaching traditional paintings. In this way, one project eventually lead to another.

Around 1996, De Rose came to realize how significantly painting was missing in his artistic spectrum and started including it in his creative process. He can’t say that he loves one art form over another, but after almost 50 years of pottery, he’s now determined to devote himself to full- time painting.

If you are interested in Tim De Rose’s art work, please request a pricing list from us, Crescent Hill Gallery, and get that new painting for your collection.