Rosa Roberts

Rosa Roberts is a British painter whose work is drawn to the vitality of growing things — foliage, fruit, plants and tropical motifs, painted in rich jewel colors with bold gestural marks. Her paintings begin with observational sketching, then move through many iterations before a composition settles and earns a large canvas.

Her surfaces are as considered as her color. Layers of collage and cardboard are worked into the canvas before any paint goes down, creating a ridged, uneven ground that interrupts every mark made on top of it. It is the most time-consuming part of her process and the reason her work is recognizably hers.

Known for her vivid still lifes, expressive brushwork and intuitive sense of colour, Rosa has taught with Arteway before. Going Big is the first time she’s shared her process for working at scale.