What does your painting 'Ambient Sun' represent to you?

'Ambient Sun' is a palette knife oil painting. It is stimulated by intense country sunsets and guided by the essence and energy of my surroundings. Because my paintings are intimate, I can't help but pepper secrets into each. This, in turn, allows others to interpret my artwork as they wish. I am quite moody and somewhat pensive. As a consequence of this, I have come to believe that every work of art shape shifts depending on when and how you interact with it. 'Ambient Sun' is symbolic of strength, grace and maturing. The pale roses embody life and deterioration. Dewy grass holds speckles of the sun, signifying grace. Lastly, colors mingle in a deep orange sky, indicating evening, as it births an energetic sun, conveying strength and maturing.

How Does The Public Respond To Your Art? 

As a rural painter, I don't expect much in the way of reaction. For the most part, unless I am exhibiting publicly, the majority of responses concerning my paintings that I receive are limited to various online audiences. Being that this is the modern way that most, if not all artists, go about sharing their recent works. In general, I cannot honestly say what the response to this painting is because people very rarely tell me what they see when they view my paintings. I have received many compliments, many of which tell me nothing other than that they really like how my painting appears. It seems that people are private beings, who like nothing more than to keep quiet about why or how an art piece speaks to them. I can understand that.

Why do you paint? 

I could write a hardback on that question alone. I have always been artistic and it has always been a natural thing. Beyond that, to truly comprehend why I paint and furthermore, why I paint what I paint, you would have to know me. You can never really know a person or understand what they do, without first penetrating their history, all of it. It's the dark corners, private thoughts and buried memories that tell the most. To see that is to see them. Painting is a part of me and so, with gratitude, I never had a choice of doing it or not.

What does it feel like when you create?

There are countless metaphors and similes that I could string together to explain how deeply painting affects me and what exactly it feels like for me. It is refreshing. It is starting over and beginning anew. It is a clean slate. It is my skeleton of expression. It feels right and when I dare resist the urge, I am doing myself no favors because it is part of me, so in short, it feels intrinsic.

Enjoy additional works by Cierra Rowe 

Is painting your calling? If so, why?

I should think so. When something is a part of you, you don't know what to call it because it is simply there. You only know the words and terms accepted by a majority to refer to something as. Painting is no different. That is how you know that something is truly yours; when you don't need a word to define it. I often wonder why it is called ''painting''. Maybe pain begets creation. The world does not stop for your pain, so in dark times you must gather things to make your own light. You learn to survive and pick up the pieces. Art was my glue and now it's my wood. 

Do you ever hate something you create?

Maybe not ''hate'' per se but I have definitely had some artworks that I did not enjoy looking at. If anything it has taught me to be more patient and to ensure that I am painting based on feeling or sensitivity, not aesthetic. 

What does it feel like for you when people interact with your artwork?

It feels exciting. Sometimes it makes me feel vulnerable, depending on the piece and other times I don't feel anything at all. I paint for me, so when someone else views or interacts with my artwork, it does intrigue me but in a subdued way. 

What other painters inspire you?

As a female painter I sometimes feel that it is expected of me to have other painters whom I look up to. This has never aligned with me or my art, being that my painting style flourished from retreating into myself, embracing my personality and evolving from experience. I have no painters or artists who inspire me aside from my husband. Though his impatience would not allow him to continue painting he continues to be my modern muse due to his insight, candor and supportive nature.

Can you talk about the more academic techniques and tactics you employ in your work?

As a self-taught painter, my technique in painting rests solely on instinct. Before picking up the palette knife I had briefly intended to begin sculpting. That did not pan out and so over the course of discarding sculpting, I came to embrace oils. Like sculpting, oils require patience and a sure hand; given how thick and layered my strokes are and my choice of tools. My oil paintings are generally recognized as ''impasto'', which is a curious word applied to paintings whose paint is thick and stands out from the surface. 

What are you like outside of your art?

I don't really know how to answer this, mostly because I don't think about it very much. I enjoy being present and taking it a day at a time, while enjoying the little things and having a glass of champagne here and there.

What is your mission or message for the world?

The noise of this world is profuse and intense. The world stage cannot hold everyone. I have not thought of a message or mission and it would be selfish of me to pretend to have either. 

Why does art matter to you?

Art matters to me because it documents the everchanging and absolute passing of time. It shows how something, somewhere, even if only in the mind of the artist, looked at a certain moment in time. Through art, you observe the layers of living through someone else's eyes — you sample their life. It is more intimate than a photograph and more elusive than sound because there are only hints within color and line that narrate thought patterns, emotion and memories that led up to the artwork's completion. Viewing a work of art is touching someone from the past. That is connection — art connects everyone and ''everyone'' means that no one is alone.

Why should art matter to others?

My notions are mine and I cannot force my view of things onto anyone else, however, a world without art is a candle without a flame and a candle without a flame makes it hard to see in the dark.

What’s something people think about painting that’s completely false?

Some people think that paintings are completed overnight. This is completely false, as my paintings sometimes take weeks to complete, depending on the size and subject. 

What has your journey to becoming an artist been like?

As much as I'd love to gloss over things and only highlight the positives, I have to be frank; It has been very difficult, especially these years leading up to revisiting oils. When you keep breaking a skeleton's bones, it's going to be hard for it to find its footing after a while and soon all that it can do is sit there and be a pile of bones. Certainly there for a while I felt like this and once I finally picked myself back up, I understood that to grow you must break.

Enjoy additional works by Cierra Rowe