Interview: James Rose
James Rose was born in the Hudson River Valley of New York State. He studied art at the Maine College of Art in Portland, Maine. James also lived in San Francisco, California for 11 years. In 2008, James relocated again, returning to New York. James had an art studio in the Chashama Studio Program from 2016 to 2026. During this time, in 2020, he received an MA from Brooklyn College and began teaching art.
James has been in several shows collections in NYC and the United States. In 2025, his work was accepted at the CICA Museum in Seoul, Korea. James began attending artist residencies in the summer of 2025 at Chalk Hill in Sonoma Valley, California. He continued attending AiR in the summer of 2026 first at Ou Gallery on Vancouver Island, Canada and a second at Joya in Velez-Rubio, Spain. His artwork is also represented by Pandora Gallery in Berlin, Germany for the 2026- 2027 term.
“My original self came through. My love of nature and art. I had love in my life, I had art.”
What was your journey into becoming an artist?
My desire to make art began in my early childhood, but more than most children, or at least that's what was interpreted by the adults around me. I was identified as an artist and given art supplies. It became the go to gift at birthdays or over the holidays. I do remember loving it very much. I would invent stories and draw pictures in great detail. Topics included dinosaurs around volcanoes, pirate ships fighting other ships, or race cars.
As a teen I was especially interested in drawing details from nature. My family often went to the Catskill Mountains in Upstate New York. My grandfather lived in the family homestead house, which was surrounded by deep woods. I remember drawing the grasses in the meadows as they reached the edge of the forests. I remember my father telling me I must be really patient to be able to include so much detail. It always remained something I loved to do, but I didn’t feel particularly gifted at it. I seemed to always know someone in one of my grade school classes that was a little better than me. But the desire to make art remained.
It was in 8th grade when my art teacher told me to take as many art classes as I could. She really encouraged me. When I got to high school I took painting and drawing 1, 2 and 3. The teacher there insisted I go to art school. From that point on I was considered an artist.
I did go to art school and got a BFA, that was in the early 1990s. I also started to tend bar. The 1990s and 2000s became consumed with this lifestyle. Dreams of being a professional artist were often just talk over loud music, beer and whiskey.
It wasn’t until I went through an extreme shift and a complete break with nightlife that I started to reemerge as an artist. The bartender first had to die. In 2016 I got a full time studio in Brooklyn, NY. I became a family man too. I started teaching art. My work developed faster and better than it ever had. By 2020 I was on my current path. I became outdoorsy again, like my childhood in the Catskill Mountains. My original self came through. My love of nature and art. I had love in my life, I had art.
What role does the natural world play in your work?
My work now entirely focuses on nature. For 10 years, between my move to NYC in 2008 and sometime around 2018, I had almost entirely made work about the subways and streets of NYC. But around 2018 I really started going on hikes and camping with my young family. Nature became my focus, I transitioned. It seemed very clear to me that I wanted to paint these experiences. I wanted to paint the things I was feeling and enjoying. I wanted to make nature my central theme. I wanted others to see it the way I did. I wanted to paint the beauty I saw from my perspective as I enjoyed it.
In 2025, I went on my first artist residency in beautiful Sonoma Valley, California. Red Woods were something that I always loved. My time in Northern California in the 1990s and 2000s wasn't completely lost in nightlife, I managed some trips to the countryside in between binges. Red Woods always remained in my heart. While in Sonoma County in 2025 I had a few lovely encounters with redwoods. I also fell in love with the rolling coastal mountains and the golden light pouring through the valleys. That residency was enough to push me forward and continue on my journey to seek out natural experiences.
Summer 2026 included residencies in British Columbia, Canada and Southern Spain where I was immersed in artmaking representing my natural experiences in those diverse environments.
What is your creative process?
My process is centered in making paintings in my studio. But I need to go out and experience nature, draw it on site, take photos, make water color paintings and gather as much information as I can to bring back to the studio. I want to paint nature that I have experienced. I am not compelled to make artwork about anything that I have not had a personal connection to and this especially is true for nature. I want to dive into the waters of a creek, climb to the summit of a mountain, and wander through a forest. When I am in a forest or on a mountain or next to a river, I want to sit on the ground, or rock or log and draw what I am seeing. This is the best way for me to capture the experience. After I have drawn the experience I will also take photos. I synthesize the information through my mind and hands to make the paintings in my studio.
Is there anything you’re currently working on or looking forward to in your work that you’d like to share more about?
I recently began focusing on creatures. I will undoubtedly make a body of work about the animal life I encounter while experiencing nature. I am also interested in representing creatures I encounter in urban nature. One in particular is a large cellar spider living in my studio. I am trying to figure out the best way to paint her. Her web is in the corner just a few feet from where I paint, so I can easily paint her from direct observation. I also encountered an owl in British Columbia this past summer and have a painting in my head that I just need to get down on canvas that will represent that experience. Next summer I will be in a residency in a forest north of Berlin. I’m looking forward to that too.
All images copyright of James Rose.
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