Mariah Scott: Meet the Artist
I’m Mariah Scott, a Grand Rapids-based artist and designer who focuses on typographic and nature-inspired elements in my work, which ranges from branding, to book design, to murals. Having run my business Rose Color Creative for 5 years now, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with so many amazing, community-driven clients to create colorful, expressive and impactful designs. As a native of Northern Michigan, I am so inspired by nature, seasons and the beauty of the midwest, and have recently completed my certification in botanical illustration to continue to pursue even more fine art, Illustration and mural design.
Q: How did you get involved with Lions and Rabbits?
A: I became familiar with Lions and Rabbits when Hannah Berry spoke at Creative Mornings in 2019, and had been following them on social media platforms since. Last year an open call for artists came up for After Dark. I felt the project was an amazing fit, and had the wonderful opportunity of working on a mural for New City Neighbors through Lions and Rabbits!
Q: Run us through your creative process: Medium? How do you start, flow and finish?
A: I often start with a pencil, but my process really varies depending on what is appropriate for the project! I love to mix both the handmade and digital to find a good balance of personal touch with finessed design. When it comes to botanics, I collect TONS of reference photos to draw inspiration from, and typically use pencil, ink and watercolor to flesh out ideas. For typographic designs, I do a ton of work in procreate and illustrator where I can kick out a lot of iterations in a short amount of time.
Q: What themes/ideas are highlighted in your work? Intentions?
A: The ideas I typically love to draw from and share tend to be pretty sunshiney, positive, nature-inspired subject matter. I love to use my work to encourage creativity in ALL people because to me it’s such a fundamental part of being human. I wish everyone could see themselves as valued, creative individuals with so much to share, even if they don’t believe they have what is considered to be a “typically creative” skillset. I hope my work can be an encouragement and help create bright, welcoming, uplifting moments and environments for people. I think creativity begets connection.
Q: Can you share more about how your career as an artist began?
A: I have always been a project person. I am convinced that if I never had to have a job or any responsibilities I would still fill every lick of my time with creative projects. In school I was constantly involved in art, music, yearbook, the school newspaper, you name it. That transitioned easily into a graphic design degree from Ferris State University, and then work for several different marketing and ad agencies here in Grand Rapids. After a few years of exclusively working in graphic design I started to really find my niche in more small and personal work like small business brands, book design, apparel and lifestyle product designs, and, most recently, mural design.
Q: What mistakes have you made? What obstacles have you encountered throughout your career as an artist?
A: I think some mistakes I have made would include being too much of a people pleaser and pursuing what I thought was the right job or career move at the time. I don’t think I really considered myself an artist for a long time because it wasn’t “practical”, but I have grown into my identity more and learned that careers and jobs and life rarely look how you expect them to, and often they look a lot better.
Q: Who/what are your biggest inspirations that play a key role in your work?
A: My biggest inspiration would be my faith. At the end of the day nothing has taught me more than the Bible about what it means to be a creative human. It gives me purpose and guidance and the wisdom to understand why nature and seasons are so important to people. I also am so inspired by my friends and family. I think because I am so filled and have so much joy because of them, that I can pour that joy and love back into the art I make.
After Dark 2022 located at New City Neighbors. Grand Rapids, MI
Q: Do you feel supported by your community as an artist? In what ways could you feel more supported?
A: I feel very supported by how much of a local art-loving culture we have here in Grand Rapids! It seems like there is an intrinsic value to art, beauty, nature and creativity here. I do feel sometimes like it can be a bit segmented though, and would love to see us as a community support more of a mix of ideologies, faiths, political views and cultures in our events and spaces.
Q: What is the function of artists in society? What does being an artist mean to you?
A: I believe artists can give a totally different or new perspective on the world. They can help people to see things through a new lens or open their eyes to beauty in things they maybe hadn’t noticed before. I think being an artist means sharing truth and beauty and visually translating ideas to people in creative ways.
Mural at Love’s Ice Cream Downtown Market. Grand Rapids, MI
Q: Describe a moment when you felt most proud of yourself
A: I was honestly so proud of myself when I finished the large mural at New City Neighbors. I had found out I was pregnant only days before starting the project and was pretty sick and fatigued throughout the process of painting the largest mural I had ever done (and on vinyl siding!). We finished it the day before the first big snow of the season and it felt like a total miracle (that I absolutely could not have accomplished without my husband and my best friend).
Q: What are you currently working on or looking forward to?
A: Right now I am working on slowing down and focusing on some fun personal and community projects. I am hoping to spend the summer working on a few public art projects and making things for some upcoming craft shows, as well as designing and painting a mural for my son’s nursery.
Q: BONUS: If you could chose any superpower, what would it be?🦸🏻♀️⚡️🌀
A: To pause time. I don’t know if that’s technically a super power but it sounds the most useful to me 😂
Follow more of Mariah’s work on rosecolor.co
and instagram.com/rosecolor.co
Thank you for checking out this week’s Meet the Artist, be sure to checkout more artist stories dropping weekly on our blog!
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