Rosie is a stone-carver who lives in Bristol, UK.
She carves abstract sculptures in limestone, marble and alabaster and has begun to work small pieces in clay to be cast into bronze.
Some of Rosie”s work can be found in the public arena but most find their place in gardens and domestic spaces.
She is a member of the Royal Society of Sculptors.
"Many years ago I studied figurative sculpture in clay, wood and stone at Sir John Cass and City and Guilds Art School in London.
I moved to Cornwall to work a small-holding and raise my children, and then to Devon where I trained and worked as a therapist in complementary health before returning to full-time stone carving some 25 years ago.
Many of my childhood memories are of being amongst mountains and rocks, feeling their textures in my hands, collecting stones in my pockets. I have always felt attracted to the beauty, stillness and quiet presence of this ancient material. Much of the limestone that I carve was laid down in the Jurassic age, at least 140 million years ago.
Before I break into a block, my planning is quite precise with sketches and maquettes, although later the carving will take on its own momentum. It is often hard, slow, contemplative work as the stone unwraps its secrets…striations of colour, fossils, even pockets of gas, caught within the substance of time.
As I grow older, I am increasingly drawn to the complexities of simple forms.
I search them out…the shape of a wood silhouetted, the lie of the land against the sky. I see my carvings as landscapes cutting their edges into the enclosing air and seek to explore this point of meeting: the surface tensions, the relationships between that which is visible and that which is invisible.
Installing a sculpture into its surroundings brings a changing nature to the carved form: light playing over a simple curve, the lengthening of shadows, a sense of intimacy and wholeness, a touchstone of continuity and reassurance in a fast-changing and uncertain world."
EXHIBITIONS 2005 - 2023
Linden Hall Studio, Deal, Kent
Coughton Court Gardens Warwickshire
In the grounds of Buckfast Abbey, Devon
Rachel Bebb Contemporary, Stockbridge, Hampshire
Lemon Street Gallery, Withiel, Cornwall
Sculpture at Kingham Lodge, Oxfordshire
Moncrieff-Bray Gallery, Petworth, Sussex
'On Form' Asthall Manor, Oxfordshire
Ludlow Summer Exhibition, Shropshire
Devon Open Studios
St. Wilfrid's Hospice 2009 Open Art Competition Pallant House, Chichester, Sussex
Fresh Air 2009 Quenington, Glos.
2009 Brighton Art Fair
Coombe Gallery, Dartmouth, Devon
Millstream 2007/8 Sculpture Garden, Bishopstrow, Wiltshire
Delamore House Cornwood, Devon – Early Summer Exhibition
The Gallery, Dartington Campus with SouthWest Sculptors
The Brownston Gallery, Modbury, Devon
Royal West of England Academy, Bristol – Open Sculpture Exhibition
Quartz Arts Festival Queen's College, Taunton, Somerset
The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle upon Tyne
Beaford Arts – Art at the Red House, Exeter, Devon
BlindArt Exhibition 2005 Sense and Sensuality at the Royal College of Art, London
Brian Bearne Memorial prize 2002: South West Academy Open Exhibition
PROJECTS
- 2011: Public Commission & installation of sculpture, Leechwell Garden, Totnes, Devon
- 2008: installation of 'Tsunami Noni' into the gardens of Coughton Court, Warwickshire
- 2007-2008: 'The Three Gunas' triptych: Sharpham House, Ashprington, Devon, a submission for the ACE Award for Art in a Religious Context.
- 2006-2007: 'Tsunami Noni' on Tour: Cartmel Priory, Hexham Abbey, Exeter, Leicester Lincoln and Canterbury Cathedrals.
- 2006: 'Emergence': Dartington Estate, Devon, as part of 'Arts in Process', Dartington College of Art
Member of the Royal Society of Sculptors
AWARDS
One of 20 Devon artists selected to promote Visual Arts and Rural Businesses in the region 2007
Devon Artsculture Funding 2007:
South West Academy Summer Open Exhibition Briane Bearne Memorial prize 2002