Today we’d like to introduce you to Ross von Rosenberg.
Ross, before we jump into specific questions about your art, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I’ve always been an artist ever since I was a little kid. And luckily, from day one, my parents, neither of whom are artists, were supportive. I liked to draw and drew on just about anything I could find. When I was a kid, I had a large Brio board that was to put Brio train toys on, which was a cool thing to have as a kid, but often I preferred to crawl underneath it a draw on the backside of it. From drawing my favorite cartoons to comic book characters as a teenager to learning about design and painting fine art as an adult, I always had their support. It was something I could always just do, and not just wanted to do but had to do.
I feel strongly that everyone has a gift of some kind, and that it is every individual’s responsibility to nurture and develop that gift. Because a gift is nothing more than a seed. It’s up to the person to make sure it grows. And to not do so, to squander one’s gift, well that’s an insult to God, or where ever one believes their gift comes from. So that’s what I’ve been doing, my whole life, refining, developing, and growing as an artist, as a creative person every day, and into tomorrow. The artist or designer I was a decade ago is different than the one I am now, and so on. And the process has taken my work into all sorts of places.
The first show here in Dallas I participated in, back around 2005, was a membership show at the old M.A.C. in Uptown. If you signed up to be a M.A.C. member, you could show something in their membership show, so I did. I didn’t know anyone in the art community in Dallas back then. But sure enough, I met some local artists there, who introduced to my others, and on and on. All the while I continued to make work for people to see. Since then I’ve had my work take me a lot of different and interesting places, the Omni hotel project, Artscape at the Dallas Arboretum, Red Bull Art of the Can, Art Basel, Factory 603 in the West End, and various gallery shows around town and personal commissions. Because, as much as being an artist is making art, it’s also about relationships with others in the arts community. And while I’ve always worked hard continuing to make work, I’ve been really lucky to meet, know, and forge friendships with lots of other great people in the community that bring forth all sorts of great opportunities, or chances to work together.
No matter the scale of or where the work goes, I feel I owe a lot of that to the great relationships I’ve made and the people I’ve met. I mean, it’s because of art that I met my amazing wife. Our mutual friend that introduced us, did so, because, well, I’m an artist, and she’s done some art herself; so it just makes sense. And she’s another person that has been supportive and inspirational to me as well. There are so many endeavors that I couldn’t have done without her and her patients of all the time making art takes sometimes. So, it’s a combination of nurturing the gift I’ve been blessed with, a supportive family, and other wonderful and creative people and friends in the Dallas art community that has gotten me to where I am today, and wherever I’ll be going tomorrow.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Working in the arts is not easy. You’re creating things that you’re putting a lot of work, time and passion into, nakedly pouring out your thoughts, and feelings. And some people might like it, and some people might not. Everybody is different. There can be the objectivity of things like technical craft, for example, this painting of a tree, that is meant to look like a tree looks like a tree. The reality is that the way that any viewer is going to respond to any work of art is probably going to be very personal to them and subjective, which is super tricky.
I’ve had people stand next to me in galleries and talk about why they resonate with something I’ve made for reasons that I never meant or anticipated. But it’s that wonderful, difficult and unexpected thing that gives art an unquantifiable value in the world. No matter what a painting of mine means to me, what inspired it, etc., in the end, it’s how that total stranger walking up to the wall sees it. How it makes them feel. Sure they usually want to hear the story and the process. But ultimately a person responds to it or they don’t based on it when they first lay eyes on it. So that’s one struggle.
The other one is time. Time is my nemesis. There are never enough hours in the day. Anytime they make a movie about an artist of any kind, there is always the obligatory montage of the artist at work. Jump cuts from paint stroke to paint stroke, a sped up time lapse shot, overlay some jazz, Rolling Stones or Grandmaster Flash, and then boom, after this explosive and propulsive five minutes of the film we see the artist standing there among their finished work. It looks radical, it’s the artistic process as the highest spontaneous romantic ideal. And it makes total sense for a movie. The reality is, that making art often takes a long time. And a lot of that time is spent alone with yourself and your thoughts away from family and friends that you also want to spend time with. There are many nights I’d much rather just curl up on the couch and watch a movie with my wife, but I’ve got a deadline or an idea and I have to get to work. Or, I’ve got a full time job in advertising, and there are late nights at the office, and I’ve got a commission or a show I’m working towards, so I go from late night at the office to late night in the studio. Sometimes, I even take time off from work, so I can work on art. And lastly, but perhaps, most importantly, in between all the time it takes to create the work, life, etc., you’ve got to put the work out there, promote, make sure people see it. Because the two reasons you make art are, you have an idea inside you that you just have to get out, that has to become a real thing. And then you think that thing is worthwhile enough that you want to share it with the outside world. Because even though there is always that struggle against time, the truth is, if I go for too long without sitting down at my easel and painting, I get anxious. It’s not a want, it’s a need.
Please tell us about your work.
I am a working artist and designer. For art, I specialize in painting, but I’ve worked in other lots of other mediums. I do personal work that is displayed with the intent to sell, as well as private commissions. The work I create goes in a lot of different spaces, people’s homes, galleries, restaurants, hotels, and office lobbies. The styles I work in range from mixed media, figurative work that is often surrealistic, portraiture, and abstract. And a lot of times, it’s all of the above all mixed. For the design, I do print advertising, branding, and web design. And whenever possible, I try to find ways in every project to bridge the gaps between fine art and design and meld them together.
I’d say the things I’m most proud of are also the things that separate me from others, and that’s the wide ranging versatility of all the work I do, while still finding a way to maintain a recognizable style from project to project, no matter how subtle. In other words, I can wear a lot of hats, but still provide something that is uniquely and recognizably a work from me. Which I feel like, if you are going to commission someone, or hire them for their creative talent, a big part of who you choose is liking someone’s style. Just having a style in a vacuum is fine, but the real trick is, having that style and finding a way that it can fit in with the wishes or needs of a client or project.
For example, for the Factory 603 building renovation down in the West End, I was part of a team of artists commissioned to make art for the public spaces in that building. There was about 18” x 12” painting of mine that they liked that was a mix of typography, with some figurative painting, a forearm and a hand, and a little bit of landscape on stained wood panel. They wanted something similar, but much larger, like seven feet tall by four feet wide but for it to all be about the history of the building. So I had to make something that fits into what the client wanted while still giving them the style of mine that they liked so much in the first place. And considering the client was super happy with the piece, and that most people that know me have been able to pick out which piece is mine without me telling them, I think at all worked out pretty well.
An example of bringing fine art into my design work is, I was tasked with coming up with the branding for a non-estate wine out of Central Coast California. They didn’t even have a name, just an aspirational idea. We decided on the name Aether, and using a combination of by hand custom illustration, the computer and found collage, I came up with a brand identity that is simultaneously classic looking yet modern, and that fits in with the brand story and name. The labels look so great on the bottle, and better yet, the wine is incredibly delicious.
Lastly, I’m not the type of person that is going to overload themselves and just churn stuff out. I’m very choosey about the projects I take on so that I make sure they get my undivided attention, come out at the highest quality, and that the work gets done on time.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I’d say it’s a couple of qualities that all kind of don’t work in the absence of the others. One, I’ve got an extremely wild imagination. And that imagination not only helps me come up with ideas that are unique but also allows me to work through those ideas in my head a lot before I ever sit down to actualize them. That’s handy for me because I’ve never been a rough draft kind of person. I like to start on the actual thing and just work it, and or revise it until it’s done.
Next, I’m a very deadline and process oriented person. That helps me stay on track for the work I’m doing and allows me to work through hard spots. Not all days in the studio are equal. There are days when it’s kind of like writer’s block. The ideas aren’t flowing naturally, or things just aren’t coming together as easy as you thought they would. It’s during those times, that process can help pull you throughout to the other side of those rough patches; it keeps you productive and on schedule. Find a good process and trust it. For example, I’ve found that there is always a stage while I’m working on something that I always get to where I look at what I’m working on and I will hate it, and I used to find that super discouraging. But eventually, I learned or noticed, that whenever I reach the point I was feeling that way, that if just worked through that spot, did what needed to do, that it was the moment when it was all about to start coming together. Now, when I step back and look at something and think, yikes, I now know that I’m actually at about the 65% done mark, and it’s all about to get awesome. And deadlines, when it comes to deadlines, I’m always on time.
Lastly, I’m never too precious with my work. The problem with getting too precious with your work is that it sometimes can blind you to when something is not working. Sometimes, something needs to be revised, a part needs to be painted out and fixed. Or sometimes the entire thing isn’t working and that idea has to be just trashed and you have to start over. There are moments in the process of making art or design, that you have to be honest with yourself and downright ruthless with your ideas. Not every idea is going to be a winner. It’s that combination of qualities that are invaluable to the work I create.
Pricing:
- My design services are $75 an hour for the initial round of creative, plus 2 rounds of revisions. If it is necessary that the project goes beyond 2 rounds of revisions, the rate then increases to $100 an hour.
- Art commissions are negotiated between myself and the prospective client based on size, materials, content, and timing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rossvon7design.com
- Phone: 512-917-1264
- Email: rossvon7design@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rossvon7/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ross.vonrosenberg
Image Credit:
Lauren von Rosenberg
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