Georgia Rowswell received her formal art training, with a concentration in painting and drawing, from the University of Buffalo in New York. Her informal training began at a much earlier age under the influence of her mother, Dorothy Stiefler. “ Mom was particularly drawn to traditional, fiber based art work. There was always a project or two in the works. All my life I watched and learned from her. Today I would describe my work as, rooted in fiber, with a painterly execution that owes its success to the intersection of these two important influences ”. Georgia has been working as a studio artist for over 40 years. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally in group and solo shows. She has been awarded residencies at Wyoming’s Ucross, Teton ArtLab, Brushcreek and Jentel as well as a residency in NY and Mexico. In 2016 She was awarded the prestigious Wyoming Arts Council's Visual Arts Fellowship. Georgia’s studio and gallery, Blue Door Arts, is located in the Historic Hynds building in downtown Cheyenne. She believes that the arts are an important part of living a full and rich life and enjoys sharing her work and process with gallery visitors.
About
Curiosity, as much as creativity, is the driving force behind my artistic practice. I have wondered at the dangerous beauty of Yellowstone's prismatic pools, a fragment of an ancient fossil discovered in the Green River Formation or a unique outcropping, bold against the endless Western sky. Encounters like these spark questions. What am I looking at? How did it come about? How can I express what I am seeing and feeling through my art? Left brain research and right brain creativity are my pathways to creating conceptually and emotionally engaging work.
Curiosity and concern also led me to develop an ecologically friendly technique I call, compressed fabric. Using discarded clothing and household textiles as my palette, I cut, layer and adhere strips together. The end result is full of movement, color, and texture. In addition, using textiles adds layers of stories both known and unknown to each piece I create.