Meet Armenda Rosette Knipp | Fine Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Armenda Rosette Knipp and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Rosette, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
That’s easy. Spending time with my family and my partner. Getting together for an afternoon of games and pizza while catching up on each other’s lives. Or meeting up to catch an exhibition at the DMA or an event at Bass Hall and then grabbing a bite to eat afterwards. Good times! I also really enjoy road trips with my partner. We love exploring backroads and small towns. I always have my sketchbook with me, should inspiration strike.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a painter. An intuitive colorist. A visual storyteller. I was born in rural northeast Louisiana to parents who encouraged ingenuity and resourcefulness in their children and found myself immersed in color and design from an early age. My father, a house painter and building contractor, brought home color sample books provided to tradespeople by the major paint companies such as Sherwin Williams Paint Company. These books had a fan-shaped cutout like a splayed peacock’s tail, that allowed the viewer to see several colors juxtaposed against each other. I enjoyed leafing through the color sample books and studying the colors and how they looked next to each other. I loved to watch my father mixing oil paints in his paint splattered white painter’s overalls, the scents of oil paint and paint thinner in the air. Sometimes he brought home blueprints of homes he was building or remodeling and allowed me to carefully look through them. I liked to trace my finger through the rooms, delineated by white lines on the blue paper. I was drawn to the texture of the paper and its rich blue color. My imagination bloomed. I began to develop what would become a strong sense of design and space. My love of color deepened. The grid-like lines in the blueprints would one day find their way into my colorful paintings, as would the circular shape of the paint can lids, lying about as my father mixed paint colors.

I began painting in my early 20’s, while managing a household, and with two children under the age of three. The big, old, scarred oak table in our kitchen served as my easel and my studio for that first year. It was love at first brush stroke. Literally. I knew the first time I touched brush to canvas that this was what I was meant to do. I took oil painting classes and workshops whenever I could, both studio and plein air, and drawing classes at a museum in a nearby city. Along the way, I had the chance to take numerous workshops under well-known Louisiana artist Don Cincone which led to me studying privately under him for several years. He was a mentor to me, both artistically and spiritually. I learned a lot from him, but the most important thing I learned was to listen to my inner voice, which he said was God talking to me. Listen, he said, and then paint. Great advice. Profound advice. And its advice that I would pass along to a beginning or struggling artist, or to anyone. Listen to your own inner voice. Don’t try to paint like someone else. Be you and paint what you know.

By the time my third child came along, I had begun entering (and being accepted into) juried art competitions and building a resume in the art field. In 2005 we moved to Texas and six years later, my husband passed away of cancer. People process grief in different ways and for me, shutting down artistically was part of that process. Over two years passed before I could find my way back to my art and when I did, it helped me to begin healing.

I now make my home in Granbury, surrounded by mesquite, beautifully colored native grasses, and the most voluminous blue sky. I have always been inspired by the colors and textures of nature wherever I happen to be. I draw on my interest in nature, folklore, mythology, and spirituality to create my richly colored acrylic paintings., weaving my stories using color and texture and symbols. I feel my way through the process of creating art and allow my paintings to evolve organically. Sometimes the story weaves itself and that is always a good thing. I believe it is important for the viewer to participate in the story and create their own narrative, so I try not to over-explain it, if asked what it means.

I am more of who I really am when I am creating, and I consider it a blessing and a privilege to be able to create art.

The theme of connectedness is woven throughout my work. Connectedness to each other and connectedness to Source. If there is one thing that I would want my art to express, it is my belief that all living things are connected and as stewards of this planet, it is our responsibility to take care of it and to take care of each other.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Dallas: Dallas Arboretum
Dallas Museum of Art
Nasher Sculpture Center

Fort Worth:
The Fort Worth Botanical Gardens to catch the Kevin Box Sculpture installation. Floragami in the Garden.
Bass Hall- for a show followed by dinner (or coffee and coconut pie) at Del Frisco Grille
Modern Art Museum – (the Juane Quick-to-See Smith exhibition is amazing!)
The Kimbell Art Museum

Granbury (my hometown) :
The downtown Square (of course!)
The 1890 Grille and Lounge (for the food and the ambiance)
Mesquite Pit (for the grilled catfish and their margaritas!)
The Opera House

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?

I want to dedicate this shoutout to:
My family, Astrid, Marisa, Sean, Roz, Lucas, Everett and Twynne, and to my partner, David. You all support me and lift me up, no matter what. I love you all. You are my heart and soul.

Website: https://arknippstudio.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/arknippstudio

Other: email: arknippstudio@gmail.com