When Eli Rose was in sixth grade, they remember watching their best friend learn to draw. "I thought it was so cool to be able to make something like that," Eli Rose said. "That's when I really started to draw and practice every day."
Although they have only been at Niwot High School for one year, the artist Eli Rose (no last name used) has enjoyed the art classes and the opportunity those classes have offered them to experiment with different media, while still having enough freedom to express their own ideas.
Eli Rose has explored a variety of media and art styles. "I honestly don't have a medium that I always go back to or would call my favorite," they said. "For me it really depends on the vision I have and what will best bring that to life."
Artists are often influenced by the work of others, and Rose found inspiration when they had an opportunity to visit the Monet exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. The variety of Monet's impressionist paintings was compelling. The audio tour provided as part of the exhibit explained that later in his life, Monet yearned to escape into nature: that escape ultimately led to some of his most famous paintings.
The trip encouraged Eli Rose to learn more about Impressionism, "...the way that, when it's done right, a portrait or a landscape can look like someone snuck a camera into a daydream." Although they don't practice Impressionism very often, it is one of the things that has inspired them to continue creating art. "I think art changes with the people, and people change with the times/resources," they said. "Art is essentially just individual expression and since we all have our unique preferences and every artist has their own motivation and emotion behind their work, there is really no more of a point in criticizing a generation of art than criticizing the generation itself."
Eli Rose likes working in places where no one can bother them. While they don't often have access to a lot of outdoor spaces, working outside more often would be welcome. There are a lot of plants in their bedroom, which helps bring a bit of nature into their workspace.
The artist likes listening to music while they work. "I always have to be careful to pick a good background song that won't tempt me to listen to the lyrics or I'll lose focus and start dancing and singing along."
When not creating art, Eli Rose enjoys cooking and baking and spending time with their pets. They have three dogs, three rats, and a snail. They also enjoys being outdoors, preferably somewhere by the water or in the mountains, especially in the spring and summer when all of the flowers and mushrooms start to grow.
This summer Eli Rose plans to work part time and to spend their free time going to art museums, hiking, visiting the library and the botanical gardens, and, on days they don't go out, sleeping in and enjoying hobbies.
Eli Rose doesn't know for certain what the future may hold, which is why they intend to go to community college for two years after high school, to give them more time to figure out the future. "What I do know is that it will be something that has to do with one or more of my hobbies and definitely will not be an office job," Eli Rose said.
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