Girl Painting by Rochele Royster

I was born in the city of Washington D.C. but was raised in the rural south. The Blue Ridge Mountains of central Virginia were the backdrop of my childhood home which was nestled in a forrest of cedar, white pine and red oak trees. As a child, I had an active imagination and spent hours making dolls out of old socks, yarn and mismatched buttons. I learned how to grow my own food, harvest produce and can it for the winter. In the summer, my brother and I would dirty our knees tasting honeysuckles and prick our fingers picking the sweetest blackberries for the tastiest pies. My love for creating grew into a love for the fine arts. I studied studio art in college and later received my graduate degree in Art Therapy from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As an art therapist intern, I worked with rape and incest survivors, women and children affected by homelessness and domestic violence, and refugees from Cambodia and Kenya. Art therapy provides an avenue for those hurt by trauma to express themselves and find peace through the artistic process. I believe in the artististic process and its ability to offer awareness. Art heals. My respect for nature, hard work, and culture has inspired my imagery.

• Nationality: UNITED STATES
• Date of birth : 1976
• Artistic domains:
• Groups: Contemporary American Artists