Hello star babies! I’m Poppy-Rose, I’m 26 years old, I’m a mixed media artist and the creator of despondentserenity. Here you can read about my influences, who I am, my interests, a bit about my life and why I create the art I do. So grab a cuppa, enjoy the read and get to know me!<3
Art to me has never been about doing one thing, I enjoy learning and experimenting with new ideas. It is important to use all of my talents and expand my abilities when creating. I dislike sticking to one technique or medium, there’s so much to learn and experience through art, and a whole world of possibility, I aim to do as much as I can. I love how crazy my space can be, it’s my own little habitat and it’s where I thrive the most.
I took an interest in art from a young age, my upbringing was very influential, I have been surrounded by goth, punk, horror, fantasy etc, my whole life. My mum was into punk and goth styles and music, my dad is into his rock and metal. Alternative and out of the ‘ordinary’ has actually always felt normal to me, I love expressive styles, bold colours and anything unique and different.
I did spend some of my teenage years trying to ‘fit in’ but that never felt like me, as I grew, I started to find myself and confidently express who I am, regardless of others opinions. Unfortunately in this world, their will always be people with negative opinions, who won’t approve of how we look or what we do. We can’t please everyone and that’s okay. It’s important to express yourself for yourself, don’t do it to please the world around you, if you feel happy, focus on that happiness, be unique, express your individuality, life is short, you are art and I believe in you.
So with the influence of cool, alternative parents and finding myself through my adult years, there came my art, which is still developing and changing with everyday that I create, learn and grow.
The majority of my art expresses my experiences, interests, individuals who inspire me or look unique and is a way of me projecting who I am as an individual.
I have worked on pieces that have expressed my mental health, during the isolation of Covid, I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety, fortunately as life moved on again, my mental health has become more stable again, but, if I’m going through a particularly hard time I tend to draw creatures that look like they’re from nightmares, I’ll draw them in black, like something that would appear from the shadows in your room, dimly lit by the moonlight coming through the curtains. There’s something comforting about drawing when I’m having a bad day, like a release in my negative emotions, and personally I love the gothic, fantastical, horror vibe of these drawings, it’s something to get the heads turning.
Not all my monochrome pieces reflect my mental health though, I just love weird stuff and I have a fascination with space, stars and incorporating them into my work, combining my love for space with my love for horror!
Other times when I’m creating, I’ll be using bright colours, I like the contrast between my work, this allows me to use different mediums and create whatever I feel like at the time, it keeps my creative journey interesting and relates to how I present myself, everyday is different, every makeup look is different, I dye my hair different colours, I’m always trying new things throughout my life, I just enjoy customizing my character.
My brighter pieces often include skeletons/ skulls, fantasy characters and people who often spark my interest or have a unique look. I’m always experimenting with new materials, like paints and fabrics. I experiment with my paintings and how I frame them, not your average frame, I love gluing feather boas, netting and making frames with a hot glue gun. There’s always something different happening in the background of each painting, I play around with psychedelic patterns, different shapes and colours, each piece of artwork has its own personality and characteristics, they tell a story in their own way. It’s rewarding knowing I’m not afraid to try new things and to not conform to what other people think I should be doing. There are no rules when it comes to art, so I do whatever feels right to me.
