Rosa Herzberg Biography
Born in the countryside of the northern Netherlands in 1982, Rosa never felt quite at home there. She looked different, talked differently and just felt different than her peers. Her heart called out for a diversity of life expressions and experiences unobtainable in Friesland. Hence, at age 18, Rosa eagerly accepted the opportunity to study Performance Art in London.
After finding the school disagreeably more competitive than cooperative, her path was then redirected to a lovely Portuguese community that treated her as their own. With them she started discovering herself and learning about new and different ways of life. Rosa later moved to Birmingham to dedicate herself to the study of Visual Arts, where she found contentment creating through the power of her hands. Through this process it became apparent that she indeed preferred her “old-fashioned” way to the modern world’s quick, easy, and computer-driven approach in that art’s personality and tangibility is lost through computerized contact. She received a Fine Arts degree from the Birmingham Institute of Art and Design (BIAD) in 2008. Rosa sums up her studies’ recurring nostalgic theme, ¨I had a hard time letting go of good and beautiful things that are ceasing to exist.¨
Having completed her degree, Rosa began traveling a great deal more. While visiting an organic seed farm in South Africa, she became fascinated by seeds and the history and vast potential that they represented. Throughout her travels she made a habit of collecting seeds, wood, stones, shells, urchin spines, and other natural materials which she formed into beads and hand-crafted into jewelry. Pendants and amulets, for example, were carved out of avocado seeds that share similarly delicate and soft qualities as linoleum.
Four years later Rosa found herself returning to the Netherlands, germinating her own seed within. She was seeking the loving support of her Mother and Grandmothers to accompany her throughout her pregnancy and beyond. In Amsterdam Rosa became not only a Mother, but an apprentice to her dear friend Eddy Varekamp. A renowned artist, Eddy taught Rosa all about printmaking practices, mostly linocut and letterpress. After 8 nourishing years of collaboration with Eddy, she felt a strong calling to immerse herself and her daughter in Nature. The 2020 Pandemic clarified this for her, and Rosa’s path then wove itself back to the comforting presence of the Portuguese, this time directly to the Portuguese Motherland.
Amidst the peaceful southern countryside of Alentejo, Rosa and her daughter, Lucia, began a new life together. One thing they did bring from Amsterdam was Rosa’s old printing press and a lovely collection of antique wood and lead type. The intention was set to continue her printmaking practice within the Village of Luzianes, where it continues to enrich life there still today, one handmade print at a time. Due to the area’s low rural population, however, she has felt the call to bring her unique art to a broader community. Hence, the presence of this unfortunately digitized website.
