Brenda Sutton Rose is a writer and an artist. She is the author of DOGWOOD BLUES, a work of southern fiction that was nominated for a Georgia Author of the Year Award in 2015. Her short stories, poetry, and essays have been published in numerous magazines and journals such as Mobius: The Journal of Social Change, Ginosko Literary Journal, Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Well Read Magazine, Flycatcher, Pegasus, Broadkill Review, and others. Her short story "Samuel's Wife" was nominated for a Pushcart Prize in 2018. Among her published stories and stories not yet written, Brenda finds inspiration for her paintings. Her works of art have found homes across the United States and Europe. 

 

Although I've taken art lessons from numerous established artists, I consider myself to be a self taught oil painter. After eighteen years of intensive and dedicated self learning, of following my heart while inside my art studio, a paintbrush in my hand, my intention as a mature artist is to create something deep and soulful, something that sweeps the viewer from within and without and pulls them into the colors, and ultimately, into the story. It is impossible for me to paint without experimentation, without leaving a piece of my soul in my expressionistic and figurative works, in my traditional and abstract works. It doesn't matter which style I fall into when painting: It matters that I find life in my works, even if I must break the rules to do so. I grew up barefoot and outdoors, walking on the heartbeat of the past and the future; I am a writer with a keen sense of place. I am not satisfied until I feel that my paintings inhale and exhale, dance and bleed.  The stories I paint whisper to me when I finally get them on the canvas.  I draw inspiration from the southern landscape and culture, from my ancestral roots that grow deep in the South and reach into Ireland, Scotland, and England. Music, poetry, labor, play, and the beauty of the earth are often depicted in my works, yet the one thing that always drives me is the weaving of story and painting. My paintings tell stories, and my stories are retold in paintings. And the stories never die.

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Memberships:

Oil Painters of America

The Madison Artists Guild

Peoria Art Guild

Georgia Writers Association

Atlanta Writers Club

Georgia Poetry Society

South Georgia Writers Guild

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