Green Garibaldi inspires vibrant visual art

GROWING up on acreage in Scotsburn, Daniela Rose would either be outside playing in the bush, or inside, creating art influenced by it.

“I absolutely loved art and I always dreamed of being an artist. I remember, as a kid, being inspired by the colours in bark and in grass,” she said.

As a teen, Rose had her sights set on a Bachelor of Arts degree at university, but by the time she finished school, she decided to take a different pathway which led her to commerce.

For the last 20 years, she’s worked in a “non-creative office job” as an accountant, but when her son, Ethan was born, her passion for capturing landscapes and wildlife resurfaced.

“I always sketched and played around, but I never actually really tried to sit down and paint until about May, 2019, after I had my little one.

“Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. It just all came out,” Rose laughed.

Dabbling in watercolours, just for fun, she mainly paints with vibrant acrylics on canvases, giving them a gloss finish.

With a young family based near the Enfield Plantation in Garibaldi, there’s plenty of natural terrain and wildlife that inspires these works daily.

“I love colour, more than anything else. When I look, I’m constantly squinting my eyes to see the colours rather than the shapes.

“I love bold, bright, vibrant colours, and the landscape is always changing. When I look out of my studio, it’s never the same. One day it’s one thing, and tomorrow, it’ll be different,” Rose said.

“I love living out here to see so many different animals and birds. There’s constant inspiration.”

Spending as much of her free time in the studio as she can, sometimes with a two-and-a-half-year-old “painting buddy” to collaborate with, Rose has just entered the world of commissioned art.

“I just did a really big commission for a lady in Ballarat, and that was a lot of fun. It was the first one that I’ve done, and she was really happy, so it was a positive experience.

“In the future, I’d be happy to consider doing more commissions, but at the moment, I’m just painting whatever inspires me and putting it out there,” she said.

“I’ve had some pretty good positive feedback, and I’ve sold a few works since I started, so it’s exciting.”

Rose is on Instagram as @mycountryartstudio, sometimes sharing her creative processes, but mostly showcasing her work to a wider audience of admirers and collectors.

“It’s nice to have a voice through my art. I never thought it would happen that I would do art and sell it.

“Now I’m doing it, it’s an honour that somebody would purchase something I’ve painted and put it in their home on their wall,” she said.

“Whatever they buy, I hope it brings them happiness and joy every time they look at it, and that it brightens up their home. It’s so amazing to me, and I’m so grateful.”

Not only focused on her own artistic endeavours, Rose is also the face behind instagram.com/originalaussieart, a site where she can network with other artists and support them by circulating their work.

“I put it out there to local artists and anyone in Australia to send me pics, I pop them up and get to know Aussie artists,” she said.

“There’s a local artist I’ve discovered in Durham Lead called Rachel Jackson, who does abstract, funky pieces with shapes, and Yvonne Wells is another one I’ve got to know who’s in Buninyong.

“There are some amazingly talented people out there.”