This artist creates multi-directional paintings with four views in one┃ Erin Rockwood

At Arts to Hearts Project, our Women Artist Award has always been about finding women who make work that does something to you before you have time to think about it. You walk up to the painting and your body reacts first. You want to touch it. You want to lean in. You want to get closer because something on that surface is pulling you forward.

Erin Rockwood’s paintings do that. And we are so glad to have her as a selected artist for the Women Artist Award.

So before you get to the interview, let us tell you about Erin. She does not use brushes. At all. Everything she makes is done with palette knives and sometimes her hands and fingers. That is it. And the result is oil paint so thick you can feel the painting from across the room. She works in impasto, layers on layers on layers, building texture until the canvas stops being flat and starts becoming something three-dimensional. Something you do not just look at. Something you experience.

She paints flowers. Birds. Sea creatures. Palm trees. Sunsets. The natural world in all its colour and energy. And the colours she uses are not subtle. They are bold and vivid and unapologetically happy. She is not trying to make you think. She is trying to make you feel joy. Actual joy. The kind that hits you in the chest when you see something beautiful and your first instinct is to smile before your brain has anything to say about it.

She has been this way since she was a kid. Drawing flowers and trees with oil pastels. And oil paint found her naturally. She loves the sheen of it. The thickness. The way it stays workable long enough that she can go back in and rework things.

She says she feels a flow with oil that she does not get from anything else. It comes naturally to her. And you can feel that ease in her work. Nothing is forced. Nothing is overthinking itself.

And when she paints them she does not try to make them look exactly right. She makes her own version. Bigger. Bolder. More alive than real life. She crops them tight, fills the entire canvas, pulls the paint around the edges of deep boxed canvases so the painting wraps around and becomes its own object. Some of her pieces are multi-directional. You can hang them four different ways. Four paintings in one.

And Van Gogh is in there. She will tell you that herself. His impasto inspired her to push even further. To go more extreme with the texture. To let the paint be physical and present and unapologetic. She has a Renoir quote she keeps close. Regularity, order, desire for perfection destroy art. Irregularity is the basis of all art. That quote grounds her. Helps her finish a painting without second guessing it.

Her work is getting bigger. Her colours are getting bolder. Her confidence is growing with every piece. And her emotional connection to her subjects is deepening. She is not an artist who peaked early and is coasting. She is an artist who is still climbing.

Let’s get to know Erin through our conversation with her where she talks about why she threw away the brushes, how gardening feeds her painting, what it means to make art you can feel with your hands, and why joy is the only thing she wants to leave you with.

Q1. Can you share how your early experience, from childhood creativity to your formal training and influences shaped your commitment to oil painting as your primary medium?

When I was a child I enjoyed using oil pastels to draw flowers & trees. I am drawn to oil paint for it’s sheen & the thicker consistency which I use to create three-dimensional artworks. I use only the oil paint & I don’t use any solvents to keep the oil as thick as possible.Working with oil paint comes naturally to me & I feel so relaxed when I am painting with it.I have a sense of flow with oil that I don’t get from other mediums.It does take a much longer time to dry especially when using thick layers, thankfully I have plenty of patience and also because of that feature you can go back into a painting and revamp some areas that might need extra attention.

Q2. Many of your paintings harness both highly controlled passages and spontaneous, expressive brushwork. How do you decide when to surrender to impulse and when to assert control?

I actually only use Palette Knives to paint & occasionally my hands & fingers.It all depends on the subject of the painting.I typically always surrender to my natural impulses & even close my eyes during the course of painting.With flowers & foliage it can be more of a free flowing motion, for creatures such as a Flamingo or a Peacock I am asserting much more control on the details of the subject & with the surrounding areas I use a more impulsive technique.

Q3. Your use of colour is bold, expressive, and often evocative of mood. How do you think about colour choices as instinct, as emotional index, or as a structural system?

I create my artwork to evoke a sense of Joy and a deeper connection to the natural world & it’s amazing creatures.I love using vivid color to express happiness & positivity.

Q4. When you’re working on a large bloom, how much are you observing the real flower and how much are you responding to the paint itself?

When painting a large bloom, I usually reference a few photos of that flower or go by my memory since I am an avid gardener.I have many Hibiscus plants in my yard at home so I am inspired by their shape & bright colors.I use the paint to let the more natural flow of the petals evolve & I don’t overthink it as I am creating my own version of that particular flower.

Q5. Flowers are traditionally associated with beauty and delicacy, yet your brushwork feels bold and physical. Is that contrast intentional?

It is intentional, by using only palette knives all of my artwork is very bold & physical. I use many layers of oil paint in the Impasto technique to create depth & energy in texture.My style invites both visual and physical engagement, embodying wonder & turning the canvas into a tactile experience.

Q6. Your floral paintings are often tightly cropped, filling the canvas and almost overwhelming the viewer. What draws you to that immersive framing?

I use deep boxed canvases so I can pull the paint off the sides and top of the canvas giving it a more three-dimensional effect and so the viewer has a sense of presence ,interaction ,and sensory engagement.I also create multi-directional pieces so the viewer can have different perspectives and enjoy four artworks in one.

Q7. Looking at your earlier work compared to your recent pieces, what has shifted most scale, colour, confidence or emotional intensity? 

They all have shifted, my scale has increased, I found my style of painting requires larger canvases, colour is more extreme, with every piece I complete my confidence grows, & with each new painting I have a much deeper emotional connection to my subjects.

Q8. Many artists develop their voice in conversation with other painters, movements, or teachers. Are there particular figures historical or contemporary whose work continues to resonate or challenge you?

Van Gogh’s style has always resonated with me & inspired me to take it to a much more extreme version of the Impasto Technique. My Favorito art quote is “Regularity, order, desire for perfection destroy art. Irregularity is the basis of all art”-Pierre-Auguste Renoir this quote always grounds me & helps me to be content with finishing a painting & not feeling like I need to change anything.

Q9. What do you want viewers to feel when they stand close to one of your paintings calm, awe, discomfort, something else?

I want viewers to feel a sense of Joy & Inspiration.Also for them to feel a connection to the subjects I paint such as Hummingbirds, Octopus,Sea Turtles,Sunsets,& Palm Trees.I hope they are inspired to be more creative themselves & bring more light & joy into this world.

Q10. What advice would you give painters who want to revisit a single subject repeatedly without losing depth or curiosity?

If you have a passion for a certain subject, as for me that would be Palm Trees,I would tell them to embrace that & keep creating new versions of that particular subject through exploring different color choices, techniques,& mediums maybe outside their comfort zone.

As our conversation with Erin came to a close, we sat with something that we think the art world needs to hear more often. That joy is enough.

Not joy as a stepping stone to something deeper. Not joy as a warm-up before the real meaning kicks in. Just joy. On its own. As the whole point.

Because somewhere along the way we started believing that serious art has to be heavy. That it has to make you uncomfortable or challenge you or leave you with more questions than answers to be worth your time. And yes, art can do all of those things beautifully. But it can also just make you feel good. It can make your day lighter. It can put colour into a grey afternoon. And that is not less valuable. That is a gift.

Erin knows that. She is not trying to make you think about mortality or politics or the human condition. She is trying to make you smile. She is trying to make you feel connected to the natural world for a minute. To a flower. A bird. A sunset. The things we rush past every day without stopping. She slows you down and says look at this. Look how beautiful this is. Just feel it.

And the physicality of how she works makes that feeling even stronger. Her paintings are not flat images hanging on a wall. They are objects. They have weight and depth and texture you want to reach out and touch. They take up space the way a living thing takes up space. And when you put one of them in a room the room changes. It gets warmer. Brighter. More alive. Not because of some trick. Because joy is contagious. Even when it is made of oil paint.

We think more artists should give themselves permission to make work that is simply and completely about happiness. Not ironic happiness. Not happiness with a dark undertone. Real happiness. Made with real love for the subject. That takes more courage than people realise. And Erin has it.

For anyone looking to collect work or bring something new into their space, we want to say this about Erin’s paintings. They are not the kind of art you buy and then forget about. They change a room the moment you hang them. The texture catches light differently throughout the day.

The colours shift depending on where you are standing. And because the paint is so physical, so three-dimensional, the painting feels present in a way that flat work simply cannot. Guests notice it. You notice it every morning. It does not fade into the background. It stays alive on the wall the way it was alive when she made it. And honestly in a market full of work that looks good in photographs but feels flat in person, Erin’s paintings are the opposite. They look good in photos but in person they are something else entirely. You have to stand in front of one to understand. And once you do you will not want to leave without it.

Follow Erin Rockwood through the links below and get close to work that was made to be felt.