Scroll is pleased to present The Tomatoes are Ripe!, a solo presentation of new paintings and works on paper by Rosie Harbottle. This is the UK-based artist’s first exhibition in the United States.

Harbottle’s work brings together a palette of rich color, expressive brushwork and mark-making, taking note of the changing seasons, landscapes, and the simple joy of everyday objects. With eccentric pattern-like compositions and chromatic hues, Harbottle grows a poetic, pictorial world that celebrates nature and those living alongside it.

Living on the edge of Devon’s diverse moorland provides constant inspiration for Harbottle. Her studio, set above a rural garden nursery in the Teign Valley, provides an immersive view of rolling, hilly fields and lush trees. The idyllic, pastoral scenes illustrated across her vibrant and lively compositions mirrors the freedom of her natural surroundings, weaving in inspirations from folk and decorative arts, Milton Avery’s use of color, and Hilma Af Klint’s spiritual play with perspective. Harbottle brings her immediate natural surroundings together with inspiration from books, songs, textiles, and folklore encountered upon her travels and exploration of new places. For the artist, music serves as an important influence on her work, as she grew up in a creative and musical family, and Harbottle's lyrical compositions emulate the rhythmic freedom and emotional harmonies that come through melody and song.

In this new body of work, Harbottle celebrates summer and the bounty it brings – flourishing gardens, allotments in full yield, subtle geometries of planting plans and grid systems. In her new works, diverse florals on long stems create sinuous, organic trails across the surface, interspersed by geometric, chromatic patterns – emulating the rows of gardens – and the occasional leaping horse. “I’m a colorist first and foremost,” Harbottle says. “I’m always in pursuit of the perfect palette. Color can evoke so much feeling. It’s always the first consideration when I begin a new painting” (quoted in G. Murray, “Playing in Nature with Artist Rosie Harbottle,” TOAST Magazine, January 2024, digital). For Harbottle, there is a quiet poetry in the orderliness of a garden bed or the rhythm of rows of vegetables, especially when juxtaposed with the spontaneity of wild growth, tumbling petals, and climbing stems.

Rosie Harbottle lives and works in Devon, United Kingdom. Her work has been featured in Blumenhaus Magazine, Financial Times, Vogue, 91 Magazine, Harper’s Bazaar, Homes & Antiques, Sheerluxe, Collagerie, and Frederic Magazine. Her clients have included Anthropologie, Liberty London, Monica Vinader, Soho House, and TOAST, among others. Harbottle has exhibited with Eastwood Fine Art, UK; Milieu Studios, UK; Charleston House, UK; and the Garden Museum, UK, among others.