Rose Electra Harris Interview: Painter on Emotions, Nature and Travel | An Espresso with Rose
Rose Electra Harris is a UK-based painter whose vibrant, intuitive works explore the relationship between emotional states and natural environments. Working primarily with painting and printmaking, Harris creates expressive canvases that process feelings through depictions of nature, using colour as an emotional language shaped by her travels and experiences in unfamiliar places. Harris's practice evolved from a background in printmaking to embrace the spontaneity and directness of painting. Her time in Mexico—both a transformative five-month journey in 2018 and a productive residency in 2023 at Jo_hs Gallery in Mexico City—profoundly influenced her vibrant colour palette and intuitive approach. In this conversation, Rose discusses how travel directs her work for entire years, why nature serves as a stepping stone to express emotional states, and the complex realities of sustaining an artistic practice—from the joy of finishing paintings to the pressures of social media and financial sustainability. Below is our conversation part of my series 'An Espresso with...'.
Travel as Artistic Influence
1. How important and influential are travelling and spending time in a different place than England for you and your work?
If I am lucky enough to do a trip, it will direct my work for a whole year. In 2018, I reached a point where I wasn’t excited about my work in printmaking anymore, as it felt too safe. I went travelling to Mexico for five months with the intention of painting and drawing while there. Surprisingly, I couldn’t accomplish anything I had set out to do when I arrived. It was only when I came back that I took it all in. I just needed time to process the experience. In 2023, the opposite happened when I went back to Mexico City for a residency and a solo show at Jo_hs Gallery. I couldn’t stop making works to the point that I prepared twelve large paintings for the show in about a month. And even if places inspire me, it has more to do with how I feel when I am there, and the aspect of their unfamiliarity, that makes a place an influence on my work. I normally notice the impact on my work from the colour palette, like when the colours became much more vibrant after my time in Mexico. Choosing a colour is an intuitive and spontaneous process in my work, and an emotional decision for me.
Nature and Emotional Expression in Painting
2. What are the themes at the core of your work?
I work on the canvas driven by how I’m feeling about life and what’s going on in my head. More and more, my painting expresses the purest form of how I am feeling. As I continue to develop my practice, different places, environments and types of nature are the main themes in my work. Nature is the most important one because I often use it as a stepping stone to get to my emotional state. Nature helps me to feel a connection within myself with what I’m drawing. It is all very intuitive. It’s about my emotional state and the way I express it on the canvas. In the past, I was far more interested in the aesthetic, but now it’s more about my emotions. I used to be scared of doing that.
The Complex Realities of Being an Artist
3. What’s frustrating and difficult about being an artist?
When I work in the studio, I do it for the joy that I feel in the final stages of a painting. I like starting the painting, the middle is a constant battle, and I love finishing it. But being an artist is complex in many ways. I find it difficult not to compare myself to other artists due to the pressure of social media, for instance. Then, working on my own presents me with a constant comparison of myself to others, and it can get into my head. Isolation is something I love and hate at the same time. Sometimes a dialogue with other people is important to me, or just a presence, but the studio is my space where no one can interfere, and it’s how I want it. Certainly, I haven’t set out to please people with my paintings, but the need to sustain myself and my practice financially can also put pressure on me. Then I question myself if I am a true artist, as I never thought I would be one, and sometimes I wonder if it is who I am. But I love it and I’m lucky. It is something special to be able to do, and I will do everything in my power to continue for a long time.
Reflections on This Conversation
Speaking with Rose revealed the profound connection between place, emotion, and artistic practice. Her evolution from feeling "too safe" in printmaking to embracing the spontaneity of painting demonstrates how allowing yourself to be vulnerable on canvas can lead to more authentic expression. The contrast between her two Mexico experiences—one requiring time to process, the other explosively productive—shows how travel impacts creative work in unpredictable ways. Three key insights: - Travel influences work through emotional resonance and unfamiliarity rather than direct representation—processing experiences can take months or happen instantaneously - Nature serves as an emotional stepping stone, helping artists connect with and express internal states through external forms - Sustaining artistic practice involves navigating constant tensions: isolation versus dialogue, authentic expression versus financial pressure, self-doubt versus commitment Learn more about Rose Electra Harris's work on Instagram: @roseelectraharris
‘Grappling’ - credit to Justin Piperger
‘Up all night’ - credit to Justin Piperger
If you enjoyed this conversation, you might also like my interviews with other painters:
Angela Stauber on painting practice and artistic process
Jan Crombie on working across painting and ceramics
View all "An Espresso with..." conversations
Explore more conversations in my Portfolio or subscribe to receive new interviews
