Artist Lori Rowe, a welcome addition to the Vero Beach arts community, recently opened The Rowe Gallery on Royal Palm Pointe, which features her own artwork.
A self-taught artist who describes her work as contemporary impressionist, Rowe returned to Florida not long ago, after having spent a lifetime on the road; first as an Army brat and later traveling with husband Gregory. As a quality engineer involved with the construction and decommissioning of power plants, primarily nuclear plants, his work had them on the move about every six months for some 17 years.
As they traversed the country, the lifestyle afforded her an opportunity to pursue an interest in the arts. She initially dabbled in watercolor, one of the more complex mediums to master.
Despite its being unforgiving and unpredictable, she says it was the easiest to manage given their RV lifestyle.
While they did not live in any one place long enough for her to settle into any one art form, art became her outlet and Rowe filled her time on the road experimenting with various techniques and styles.
At one point, when Gregory was working on a project in Long Island, Rowe says they needed to rent a house as there was no place nearby where they could live in the RV. It was during that period of time that she “spread her wings” and began to dabble in oils.
“I was a watercolorist for 10 years, then I took a class with Iris Scott and fell in love with oils. I took this class, and I never went back,” says Rowe.
Scott is a well-known finger-painting artist who has dedicated her career to the art form she describes as Instinctualism.
“Finger painting is very different. It’s very messy. It’s a love-hate process. It’s infuriating at times,” says Rowe, adding that she soon gained enough confidence to begin entering her work into a handful of shows.
“The first show I entered, I actually won third place in acrylics. I dabbled with acrylics for a minute. That’s all it took to really encourage me to get going a little bit more,” recalls Rowe.
An animal lover – her three Australian Shepherds can attest to it – Rowe sent one of her dog paintings to support a fundraiser sponsored by Strays of Abu Dhabi at the Millennium Hotel there. Much to her surprise, the painting ended up being used as the featured face for the nonprofit’s fundraising poster.
Before long, Rowe says, her work was becoming more recognizable, and she soon had more requests for it than she could handle.
“I had them backed up on top of each other,” says Rowe.
For years, her husband had been pushing her to do more with her art and, after a bout with breast cancer, she finally decided she had nothing to lose.
By then the couple was living in Borrego Springs, Calif., where she stumbled across a vacant storefront that she felt was the ideal spot to expand her reach.
“It was the perfect place for recovery. I think I got myself back a little bit there,” says Rowe.
During their time in that quaint, artsy village of 3,000 residents in the middle of the desert – Borrego Springs is surrounded by the Anza-Borrego State Park, the largest state park in California – Rowe’s gallery garnered quite a following through word of mouth from visitors to the town.
Prescribing to a philosophy of “no rules,” Rowe now paints whatever she feels like and uses whatever tools spark her fancy at the time – brushwork, a palette knife, her fingers, impasto, and anything else within reach.
“I finally found my niche. I paint what I want to paint,” she says, adding that she considers herself a contemporary impressionist with some abstract leanings.
Walking through the gallery and studio space, several vibrant cows boldly stand out for their lively colors.
“They are certainly in no way true to life,” says Rowe.
Despite that, she adds, “I do tend toward some realism. When I do my animals, you will always see a real eye. That’s the first thing I do because then they’re alive. Even though that’s the only thing on my canvas in there, it’s now alive, and I work from there.”
A bit of Florida is also appearing on the canvases these days, with palm trees and beach scenes popping up, and she is currently working on a sea turtle.
Continuing with a stroll through the studio, there are hints of inspiration from Master Artists such as Claude Monet, along with the more modern influences of artists such as Scott, whose work enticed Rowe to expand from palette knives into finger painting.
Today, Rowe’s passion knows no bounds. And soon, her oil paintings won’t be the only works to admire in the gallery, as she plans to add in pieces by artists in various other mediums, including photography and ceramics.
“I’m always happy to have visitors and share a cup of coffee,” says Rowe, inviting folks to stop by to view her works and the process.
The Rowe Gallery, located at 46 Royal Palm Pointe, is open Thursday through Sunday. For more information, visit therowegallery.com.
Photos by Kaila Jones
