Canadian Artist Marion Rose was never afraid to express the richness of life in her artwork.

From when she began her career to the when she lost her battle to cancer in 2011, her works always had a sense of joy expressed through the rich use of colors and shades.

Image: Roaming Black Bear

Her choice of subject matter featured her love for animals & nature or her passion for travel, sometimes both. And, sometimes, she would throw in a surprising choice of subject matter to keep the art world guessing.

Image: Bring The Mares Home

But, no matter what she was painting, the end result was always magnificent and her use of colors and textures remain a joy to look at.

Image: Chic VII

Marion Rose: A Dance of Paint & Colors

Marion Rose loved music, dance, and art, and considered her art studio to also be her own private dance hall. She could often be found listening to music, dancing, and painting… allowing the music and the subject to inspire both her body and her brush.

Image: Autumn Jewels

The abstract spirit of every subject is coming through more clearly with spontaneous gestures that involve my whole body.

Exploring the World & All It Had to Offer

She traveled as often as she could, both close to home and around the world. You can tell by her body of work that studying animals was one of her favorite pastimes.  This love of animals and nature created an excellent foundation for her bold but authentic works.

Image: Crows II

She applied her trademark use of exciting color and strong expressive brushwork to these studies of nature, creating delightful artworks that still has collectors coming back for more.

Image: Blue Poppy

It seems fitting, given her love of music, that her paintings are often referred to as being a natural dance between color and reality.

Image: Bison Head II

It’s like a dance before the canvas, and the surface is coming alive!

Marion Rose always kept her colors bright and lively, with minimal use of muted tones. The fantastic use of colors combined with the realistic portrayals of her subject matter combined beautifully. She always found a way to exaggerate all colors to the extreme hue, while managing to control the realism with value and good craftsmanship.

Image: Stalking the Marsh

Color surprises, bold texture and generous paint have always drawn collectors to my work.

The Richness of Marion Rose Art

Texture and rich color are her signature. Bold paints were applied generously using a palette knife or paint brush to capture the essence of a subject’s spirit and demeanor.

Artists are still reviewing the incredible richness of Rose’s artistic creations, paying attention to the details and trying to discover how she was able to create such richness of life with such simple and elegant subjects.

Image: A Quiet Pause

The way the underlying patterns of light and shadow are established and form the structure for the paintings is delightful.

Marion Rose as a Young Artist

Rose’s artistic talents appeared to spring from nowhere but were inspired by her family’s love of nature.  Her childhood years were spent exploring the wilderness with her father and uncles, both of whom were avid outdoorsmen. She is no stranger to livestock, having spent much of her youth working at the local racetrack, tending to sheep, rounding up cattle, and chasing horses all over the hills of the Moose Mountains in Saskatchewan.

Image: Country Girl 

After moving to British Columbia, she created a successful commercial art & design company, which she fostered for 10 years until the urge for fine art could wait no longer.

Until her passing, Rose was an active member of the Federation of Canadian Artists, winning several Awards of Excellence along the way.

Image: Blue Cow 

Browse Marion Rose Art

Below is a collection of some of the best works from her extensive portfolio.

The Artistic Legacy of Marion Rose

There are no other artists out there quite like Marion Rose. Unfortunately, this talented artist lost her long battle with cancer in November of 2011, leaving behind a young daughter and a colorful legacy consisting of more than 1,000 paintings.

Image: Chill in the Air, Birches