Growth
-noun-
1. The act or process, or a manner of growing; development; gradual increase.
A seed or idea is planted, it is nurtured and if loved it begins to flourish and grow. Enter Grow Love, a Denver-based artist, educator, and leader in the mural arts field who is currently flourishing all over Colorado and beyond with her large floral murals and intricate portraits. Back in 2018, Grow Love founded the organization Grow Love International whose mission was to support female and female identifying creatives with mentorship based career building and mural arts training, setting the roots for women artists to grow. In 2019 she co-founded the Babe Walls Mural Festival, (which now operates as a non profit) collaborating with cities and communities on mural projects, educational programs, and mural arts career opportunities for women, like branches spreading from a tree. Then in 2021 she became a member of the Medusa Collective, an artist studio, gallery, and educational space, where they founded a youth lead program to support young artists in the community and help them bloom.
So much like a rose bush, you may have seen the flowers of her labor on walls around the state but the extent of her work lies in the roots and branches of helping women artists grow and flourish beyond their own studios and on to the walls of the world.
We got a quick moment to speak with her about books and the Library as she finished up a mural for Street Wise Arts, completed her room for the Acoma Hotel and concluded an installation in the Denver Arts District.
Learn more and follow Grow Love:
Instagram | Website
Grow Love on Art, Books, and Libraries
- What book as a kid influenced your imagination to pick up a crayon and begin making art?
I really loved reading when I was a child, my mother was an avid reader, so I picked that up from her. I think classic books for kids my age that influenced my imagination were The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis and the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. The illustrations of Pauline Baynes in the early Narnia books were full of such strange and magical beasts but also the descriptions of the landscapes were inspiring to a kid with a box of crayons.
- What book are you currently reading that influences you in either a creative way or a professional way?
Current books that I’m reading both personally and professionally are books on floriography, the study of the language of flowers, like An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux. I also listen to a plethora of audio books in the studio, ranging from Alan Watts, Eckhart Tolle, and Brené Brown’s “Atlas Of The Heart.
- What do you think is the most important resource that Libraries provide to you as an artist?
I think the most important resource that libraries provide for me as an artist are the books related to history that provide important factual information when researching for projects. You can’t always rely on the internet for that information.
- What is your current/favorite/most-used branch of the Denver Public Library?
I think my favorite branch of the Denver Public Library is the Central Library, I enjoy taking my kids there for browsing and for programs. Rows and rows of books on flowers for me and they are looking forward to the reopening of the ideaLAB after the construction.
- If you were offered a gigantic wall on the outside of a Library, what would your paint to display what a library means to you?
If I was offered a giant wall to paint at a library, I would likely try to weave imagery that flows from historical representations to fantastical images. I truly believe each creates our human experience and vice versa.
Ex Libris: Denver Artists is a series featuring local street artists, focusing on their connection to books and the importance of libraries to the artistic community. Series concept and interview by Sean Ryerson.
