Visitors were invited to hear Rosie's story of how she got into portraying family and friends, and how her aspirations as a teenager transformed into her beginning her journey as a fully fledged artist.
Visitors during open studio days in discussion with Rosie Phillips
Having applied and been offered places at University to study Fine Art, Rosie took stock of her options. She realised that Art School was not what she really wanted at that time. She had already reached out to a number of local artists, who are well-known in Norwich and North Norfolk. She entered into informal mentoring arrangements with them, spending time with artists she particularly admired and who could encourage, challenge and champion her.
She was drawn to the rigour and techniques of a more traditional approach in some of her mentors, while remaining open to developing a more expressive and personal visual language that has a conceptual origin.
Growing in confidence led her to enter several national painting competitions and also take part in a wide range of practical work situations, working as an art technician in a sixth form college and in secondary school settings. She has spent time researching around the subject to uncover her sitters' narratives, and has developed insight by picking up on body language as a starting point in finding the 'soul' in front of her.
In effect Rosie has drawn the best art practitioners to her rather than enrolling in a conventional and prohibitively expensive art degree course. Students seeking to carve out successful lives within the art world often find themselves left high and dry at the end of their full time degree education. The advantages to be gained in a formal art education are not as obvious as they once were given the costs students incur. For the time being Rosie has decided to stay in control of progressinig her practice outside of formal art education, seeking out what she needs from professional painters to advance her skills as an artist. At some point this may include getting on to a full-time degree course, further down the line.
On the afternoon of 6 February a class of Norwich School pupils under the guidance of Creative Writing Tutor Eleanor Wasserberg, visited the studio to talk to Rosie and observe her drawings and paintings. Their project was to write prose and poetry based on their own interpreations and impressions of the work they saw and from their question and answer session with Rosie.
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Norwich School tutor for creative writing, Eleanor Wasserberg brought a group of her students to view the exhibition and have produced some text wall pieces in response to what they saw and talked to Rosie about.
Here are some extracts from work completed by Writers Bloc - a creative writrs group of Norwich School students - a response to Rosie Phillips' paintings and drawings currently on show in "Close" at The Crypt Gallery. A regular visitor around the classrooms and other buildings in the Close is Budge - the school's adopted cat.
Animals of the Close
Animals,
They make a place, don’t they?
The grumpy cat
The friendly cat
The bold cat
(who we’ll get to later)
But it’s not all about the cats.
There’s always a fat dog
A playful dog
A naughty dog.
I have fond memories:
Of Close cat-watching club
(A Lower Four Endeavour.)
Taking my own dog for a stroll on the grass after a club.
Budge’s legendary appearances at the most inconvenient of times.
The peregrine falcons’ cries overhead and their half-finished meals also demand a memory, of course.
A place without animals must be a very dull place indeed.
So take time to enjoy the architecture, talk to the people…
And most importantly, notice the animals of the Close.
Amelia Braidwood (L6)
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The Fabulous Fredringson the Fifth
“And now, for our final act!”
I was sweating so hard I feared I would drown. I’d been waiting hours for my act.
“The one…the only!”
My act could kill me with one wrong move.
“The balancing rings of light!”
I had to balance discs the size of me on one foot, while sitting on a chair on my back.
“Please welcome…Fredingson the 5th!”
Here goes…
Finn Elson (L4)
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About the author
Paul Vater
PAUL VATER
Paul conducts studio visits to maintain strong relationships with artists, designers and craftspeople who show their work with us. He manages the main C&C website and has developed the online shop where selected works are presented for sale.
Paul established his design company, Sugarfree, in 1990 and quickly gained a reputation for delivering fresh, effective marketing campaigns and brand identities for clients including Save the Children Fund, United Nations Association and UNHCR. Over the years those added to the roster include IPC Magazines, Arts Council England, The Roundhouse, Barbican Centre, Arts Marketing Association, Look Ahead Housing and Care, Paddington Waterside, BBC Worldwide, Commonwealth Foundation, Prestel, City of London Corporation, Baker Street Quarter, Victoria BID and the University of East Anglia.