CYNTHIA ROSEN FINE ART

Tonight our guest is Cynthia Rosen. After high school, she was gifted with a scholarship to the Boston Museum School as a winner of National Scholastic Art Competition. She completed her traditional diploma program plus a 5th-year certification after which I was a recipient of a traveling fellowship from the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. She also obtained a Masters in Education with a focus on art. In 2007 she executed over 100 running feet of murals for St. Charles Hospital’s (Port Jefferson, NY) celebration of it’s 100th anniversary; and starting in 2011 secured a job painting murals for Sarabeth’s Tribeca in NYC. She is presently represented by: Weiler House Fine Art Gallery in Fort Worth, TX; the Desert Art Collection in Palm Desert, CA; Robert Paul Galleries in Stowe, VT and Chasen Galleries in Richmond, VA. We have conducted an interview with Cynthia.

How does it feel to be called ''The Lewis Carroll of painting''?

I actually am honored to be called the "Lewis Carroll of painting" Lewis Carroll brought us to a world in which imagination and creativity reigned while maintaining an undercurrent of truth through analogy.

Which is your first mural piece of art?

I went from an outdoor garden on a 100' fence on a property in Massachusettes to murals for St Charles Hospital in Port Jefferson, NY in honor of the hospital's 100th anniversary. The longest of which recounted the history of the hospital and was approx 45 feet.

What happened that had made you take art in a more serious mode?

I started out after college intending to create a career as an artist but once I got married and started a family I realized that I could not paint and raise my family in the fashion that I aspired to. I was lucky enough to be able to be a stay at home mom and helped my husband with the business end of his small company. Once my children all started school I returned to school to obtain my masters and teaching certification and my masters so I could teach while they were in school. Once the children left home and my husband retired, wanting to move to Arizona, I needed a job which could go with me no matter wherever I went and turned to making art again.

Which is the most important aspect of being a self-taught artist in the world of painting?

While being a self-taught painter has been difficult in ways and likely less time-effective than taking classes, the benefit is that I constantly question my voice and my work reflects that voice. I am also perhaps a bit freer to innovate in my work since it is constantly a searching process.

Which awards have you won? Which is your proudest achievement?

My first award was a free ride to college through the National Scholastic Competition in Art. This was perhaps the most important award because, while I did not want to go to college, this turned the whole issue into a fait a compli. Then I received a traveling fellowship through the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston which began the self-teaching process. Most of my college years were spent working a full time job while attending school so I did not attend many classes. Other awards have come as a result of my plein air endeavors. I do not have a 'proudest achievement', rather I strive to constantly do well whatever I choose to do.