Born and raised in Maquoketa, Iowa, Rose Frantzen attended the American
Academy of Art in Chicago. While making a living through art
fairs and portrait commissions, Rose stayed in Chicago and further
pursued her study of painting at the Palette & Chisel
Academy. For a year and a half she worked under the mentorship of
Richard Schmid, gaining first hand knowledge of the representational
approach that Schmid presents in his influential book, “Alla
Prima”. In 1993, Rose continued her education with a semester of
anatomy and sculpture at the Lyme Academy of Fine Arts in Old Lyme,
Connecticut.
In the early 90’s, Rose traveled extensively, taking painting tours of
Australia, Mexico, Guatemala, Russia, and throughout Europe. Her
paintings of people and places in the U.S. and abroad went to galleries
in Arizona, Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, Utah, and California.
In 1991, with her parents, Rose purchased the former city hall in
Maquoketa, opening Old City Hall Gallery on the first floor, using the
second floor council chambers as a studio. She began to focus on
paintings of small town and rural Iowa, painting subjects from life in
the studio, around town, and in the surrounding countryside.
Over time, Rose’s paintings have taken on an allegorical quality in
which an abstract or surreal setting presents the subject as an
archetypal character seen on his or her own internal stage. For
these multi-dimensional works, she incorporates diverse stylistic
elements along with gilding, stained glass, and mosaic. All of
her paintings are presented in handcrafted frames that play an integral
part in the piece.
In 2003, Rose married artist/inventor Charles Morris whose work is also
shown at Old City Hall Gallery.
Rose began teaching workshops at the Palette & Chisel in 2006 and
in her own studio in Maquoketa in 2007. Upcoming workshops will
bring her to both the Scottsdale Artist School and the Portrait Society
of America. With a grant from the Iowa Arts Council, Rose
recently completed a community-oriented project featuring 180 paintings
of residents of her home town titled “Portrait of Maquoketa”.
From November 6, 2009 through July 5, 2010, "Portrait of Maquoketa"
will be shown at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery in
Washington, DC.
Rose’s work has been featured in US Art Magazine, ArtTalk
Southwest Art, Workshop Magazine, International Artist, and Portrait
Signature, the journal of the American Society of Portrait Artists.
