Discover Atelier de Marie Rose
Artist Statement
Painting has become a staple of my mental health journey. I was diagnosed with PTSD after the Texas Winter Storm in 2021 and the first therapist I worked with suggested using prompts to inspire something beautiful as a way to help me express my thoughts and feelings.
That led me to my first painting: “Keep Austin Weird” (original title, I know). My goal was to simply work with the colors that stood out to me: blues to symbolize the cold, white for the snow, and reds to symbolize the fire alarms, which were my trigger because of how frequently they went off while my apartment building was without power.
I realized that the feeling of the brush strokes soothed me in a way I can’t explain. I’d set up my easel, pour myself a glass of Prosecco, and turn on whatever Taylor Swift record I was in the mood for and paint for hours. Years later, painting has become the hobby, creative release, and emotional expression I didn’t know I needed. It’s helped me to channel feelings I’ve always kept bottled up into something beautiful, through an activity that brings me immense joy.
I wear a lot of black in real life, but I love to paint with lots of color. I’ve also always identified as a “city girl,” but a lot of my inspiration comes from nature: I love painting landscapes, mountains, and especially flowers. I don’t want to limit myself to any one thing, because I find inspiration everywhere (especially in Taylor Swift’s lyrics) and I love experimenting.
Learning when to accept a painting as finished can be tough, because as a perfectionist, I’m seldom *completely* satisfied with what I create. That said, I’m still extremely proud of how I’ve grown as an artist, and how far I’ve come in my mental health journey. I’ve left the most vulnerable parts of me in my artwork and always will.
xoxo.
Marie Rose Carlson