Let us introduce you to the 2025 field guide cover artist – Linnaea Borealis Rose!
How did you get involved in the arts?
I have been obsessed with drawing since a very early age. My sketchbook was my
closest companion until I found friendship with other artists in the schools that I attended
and in the wild. As a teenager, I would sit with friends during lunches and swap
sketchbooks. We’d encourage each other and get excited when any of us would find a
new strength. I returned to art with a headstrong determination after college and have
been working as an art educator with the Duluth Art Institute. My involvement with the
arts has been pervasive in my personal and professional life, and it will continue for
many determined years ahead.
Who are the artists that you admire?
I frequently attend Open Studio at DAI, and it is there that I paint with other artists
that inspire my work. Artists like painters Kris Nelson and Amy Rutten, graphic artist
Aurora Webster, comic artist and illustrator Jesse Switters, watercolorists Sarah
Archbold and Sue Pavlatos; only to name a few. Other influences are my faraway
friends from my travels, such as watercolorist Devon Lawrence in Norfolk, VA and skull
carver, jeweler, Indi Walter in Fairbanks, AK.
Where can people find your art and more about you?
I regularly post my process and finished works online on Instagram, under the name
linnaea_borealis_rose at https://www.instagram.com/linnaea_borealis_rose/
What is the greatest accomplishment so far in your career?
My greatest accomplishment so far has been having the privilege to finish a gallery
project with the help of a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. It gave me
the creative space to finish work and to take my career seriously.
Do you have any words of wisdom for those starting off in the art world?
Network. Network. Network. It is so difficult to maintain an online presence as an artist,
and it can be discouraging. I have found that in order to achieve real tangible steps in
the art world, that getting involved in community through accessible spaces can really
jump start a career. At the Duluth Art Institute, specifically, I have watched career artists,
and new artists just picking up the brush, gain confidence and apply themselves without
having to worry about likes or algorithms. I wouldn’t be where I am in my career today
without face-to-face networking, and the generosity of my art community.
