About Ant Rose

When I was a kid, I thought the best job in the world would be making dioramas for museums. I had no idea how to pursue that career but entertained myself making things out of paper mâché, popsicle sticks and anything else I could find.

As an adult I became a professional cook and food became my medium. Missing that creativity when I retired led me to the Sharon Arts Center where I tried my hand at painting. 

An assignment from Frankie Brackley Tolman to create a work of art from trash pulled me in a different direction and resulted in my homage to Julia Child, something I had been thinking about since my cooking years.

With Frankie’s encouragement, I began assembling dioramas in shadow boxes using old toys and odd ball things I had around the house. Soon I was on the hunt for more materials and different display methods.

Finding materials for 3D art is part of the fun. The Dublin swap shop, yard and rummage sales, thrift stores and generous friends yield plenty of ephemera, dolls, cans, jewelry, toys, parts of old furniture and all sorts of discarded items.

Finding ideas is part of the fun, too. Most of my work is personal, often about my childhood, my family and my foibles. Although sometimes it’s just about tweaking things that make me laugh.

What I love about this process, is that it helps me approach things from odd angles and see them in a different light. The best example is Buried Treasure. The frustration of dealing with my parents’ house turned into delight when I could finally see the absurdity of the situation. Not to mention, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Which led to the Mack Family Crest.

The other thing I enjoy is that I’m learning all the time. No doubt I’m reinventing the wheel more often than not, but I love solving problems, figuring out a better method to attach a “whosit” to a “whatsit” and finding a completely different use for an ordinary object.

 While what I do is not “fine art,” it’s definitely “fun art!”