John Roos - New American Folk Artist

Experience

I finished high school in Michigan and went off to the mountains of Colorado simply because of a four foot poster of the Rockies that I walked by everyday upon entering the school. Everything was on posters back then. Colorado looked beautiful and there were opportunities for all. Cooking was my default occupation because it was all I knew how to do (I didn’t know how to ski and I didn’t have any money).

The culinary arts took me everywhere; from the ski resorts of Colorado, to places where people windsurfed for a living. I lived and worked (this is not bragging) in the Pacific Northwest, Maui, Nice, Hong Kong, New York City, Miami Beach, and a very short time in Bangkok. (I still didn’t have any money but I had learned how to ski windsurf and cook like a champ) The people I met and friends I made were far more important than the money.

I wasn’t reliable for staying in any one place for any period of time. I was reliable for writing everything down in journal after journal.

In 1990 when I was working on the island of Maui I realized that I also wanted to paint. In fact, it became impossible for me not to draw and paint. I was addicted to capturing it all.

Currently I’m journaling, painting and selling Subarus in Ann Arbor.

Selected Exhibitions and Studies

1993 Smoke Dandy accepted to Art Maui

1994 Puewella Cannery Group Show. Maui, Hawaii

1995-1997 Street Artist, Nice, France

1996-1997 Metro, Motor tour of North America interviewing American writers. Project title: The Great American Writer’s Tour.

1998 First Thursday Street shows, Portland, Oregon.

1999 Castle Hill Center for the Arts, Truro, MA Work study program. Fishing with Nicco.

2000 Solo exhibit, Jules Gallery Portland, OR The Unscene Scene.

2000 Solo exhibit, Groundswell Gallery Portland, OR America Now.

2001 Artist Residency, Vermont Studio Center Johnson, VT

2001 Launched website, Roosart.com

2001 Frank J. Miele Gallery, New York, NY Barns of Vermont

2001 Solo exhibit, Bella Faccia, Portland, OR Roosart 2001.

2001 Solo exhibit, Billy Reed’s Restaurant, Portland, OR

2001 Solo exhibit, Muddy Waters Café, Laramie, WY Girls with Guns

2002 Fine Arts Work Center, Provincetown, MA Buildings and Grounds

2002 Printmaking with Sandra Ramos and Bob Townsend

2002 Group show, Boathouse Gallery Provincetown, MA

2002 Solo Show Council on Aging Truro, MA Things People Gave Me

2003-2004 Selected Paintings at Ann Arbor Artisans Market