About
“If you ask me what I came to do in this world, I, an artist, will answer you: I am here to live out loud.” -Émile Zola
It is the unspoken stories that interest me the most. There is something I revere in the silence of a painting. Trying to capture what I see around me, be it a face, a flower, a building, is what drives my work. What I happen to rest my gaze upon is no less beautiful than the paintings I admire in a gallery or museum. I choose various subjects because they call to me like unknown books on a shelf that I simply must read. Every single person, every single organism, and even every single inanimate object has a life - a secret world of adventures and heartbreaks. As we live our increasingly busy lives, and as technology fills up every moment and distracts us endlessly, we start to forget little things. But it is those little things and little moments that define what is most worthy of our time. I sometimes fear forgetting what it felt like as a child, when I could stare at what looked like an entire galaxy in a single toy glass marble. I never want to forget that feeling, and I want my viewers to remember that feeling, too, no matter what they're observing. By noticing the everyday people and objects we normally pass by, and elevating each of them onto a metaphorical pedestal or into an actual gilded frame, I invite viewers to stop and discover the stories hiding there. Behind that pair of eyes, or lost in wilting petals, there is a whole world lived that we might otherwise have never known or appreciated.
Rowena has been making art since she was old enough to hold a crayon. She graduated from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and minor in Art History. Over the years she worked a myriad of promising but unfulfilling jobs before realizing she should never have left off making art at all. It took far too long to come to that conclusion, but now that her children are a little older, she's been able to concentrate on honing her skills in her home studio and hanging out with the many talented artists throughout Hampton Roads. Rowena resides in Virginia Beach with her talented, loving, supportive husband and three cool, clever, and silly kids.
Exhibitions (Selection)
2021 Virginia Watercolor Society Members Show, Art & Cultural Center, Portsmouth, VA
2020 Garden of Life Exhibition, The Artists Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA
2020 Artists Who Teach Exhibition, Charles Taylor Center, Hampton, VA
2019 Chesapeake Bay Watercolorists Fall Members Show, Norfolk, VA
2019 FilFest USA, Virginia Beach, VA
2019 Virginia Artist's Exhibition, Charles Taylor Center, Hampton, VA
2019 Governor's School for the Arts Faculty Show, Origins Gallery, Norfolk, VA
2018 Virginia Artist’s Exhibition, Charles Taylor Center, Hampton, VA
2017 The Graceful Envelope, Washington, D.C.
2014 A Taste of Art, Philippine Cultural Center, Virginia Beach, VA
2008 Free Spirit, Center for Cultural Arts, Suffolk, VA
2008 Dare to Dream, One Eleven Gallery & Studios, Norfolk, VA
2007 Tiny Treasures, The Hermitage Museum, Norfolk, VA
2007 Rock-n-Surf, The Artists Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA
2007 Quotes & Adages, Pembroke 4 Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA
2007 Group Show, Phillips Art Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA
2007 One Foot Square, The Artists Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA
2007 Fabulous Forgeries, The Artists Gallery, Virginia Beach, VA
2006 Solo Exhibition, The Delightful Dish, Virginia Beach, VA
2006 Best of Virginia Artists (online), Williamsburg, VA
2005 Color III International Exhibition, Period Gallery (online)
2004 The Philippine-American Festival, Virginia Beach, VA
2004 Solo Exhibition, The Jewelry Vault, Broadway, VA
2002 The Graceful Envelope, Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
Awards
2021 "On the Brink of Becoming Acquainted" Honorable Mention
2020 "On the Brink of Becoming Acquainted" Best in Show
2019 "Apple Blossoms" Honorable Mention
2017 "The Graceful Envelope" Honorable Mention
2008 "Pattern Pieces" Award of Merit
2006 "Poppin' Poppies" Honorable Mention