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Rosa Fedele

Goodreads Author

Born

Sydney, Australia

Website

http://rosafedele.com/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/rosafedeleart

Genre

Suspense, Mystery, Fiction

Member Since

June 2015

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“For me, every painting and every book is a new adventure, started with a thrill of excitement and anticipation.”

Artist and author Rosa Fedele, daughter of Italian migrants to Australia, was forbidden from pursuing an artistic career. Finally able to follow her vocation in adulthood, she studied at the prestigious Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney.

Unconstrained by conventional expectations, her work is genre-defying – slipping between portraiture and still life to vintage cars, often veering off into the world of whimsy. Her preferred medium is oil, her style a blend of figurative and modern realism, indulging in the dramatic use of light and colour.

A member of Portrait Artists Australia, Australia’s largest industry association for professi “For me, every painting and every book is a new adventure, started with a thrill of excitement and anticipation.”

Artist and author Rosa Fedele, daughter of Italian migrants to Australia, was forbidden from pursuing an artistic career. Finally able to follow her vocation in adulthood, she studied at the prestigious Julian Ashton Art School, Sydney.

Unconstrained by conventional expectations, her work is genre-defying – slipping between portraiture and still life to vintage cars, often veering off into the world of whimsy. Her preferred medium is oil, her style a blend of figurative and modern realism, indulging in the dramatic use of light and colour.

A member of Portrait Artists Australia, Australia’s largest industry association for professional portraitists, her work has been exhibited in NSW Parliament House and Parliament House Canberra, as well as numerous galleries and exhibitions in Australia and worldwide.

Rosa fell avidly in love with books at a very young age. Her favourites were those by C.S. Lewis and Tolkien, and later on Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, Anne McCaffrey and Frank Herbert; in fact, anything with beautiful and spellbinding words and imagery that would allow her to escape into other worlds.

Taking a leap from creating pictures with a brush, Rosa transitioned to conveying images with words, publishing two illustrated suspense novels, both set in Sydney of the past. Both Rosa’s art and writing is sumptuously decadent and wickedly eccentric: blurring the line between reality and truth, she challenges the viewer and the reader to suspend their disbelief and enjoy the melodrama.

Her debut illustrated suspense novel THE RED DOOR was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream, to interweave a story with pictures and draw the reader into her own bewitching, and slightly dark-edged, world. The sequel to her modern gothic mystery THE LEGACY OF BEAUREGARDE was released 10 July 2018.

Follow #australiannoir for news/illustrations on the next novel.

You can found out more about Rosa Fedele at http://rosafedele.com/ or follow on https://www.facebook.com/rosa.fedele.... or https://instagram.com/rosafedele/
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Popular Answered Questions

What are you currently working on?

Rosa Fedele Once again it's based around an old building in Sydney. This time, The Abbey in the suburb of Annandale. It's an extraordinary Gothic revival mansion …moreOnce again it's based around an old building in Sydney. This time, The Abbey in the suburb of Annandale. It's an extraordinary Gothic revival mansion built in 1881-1882 with a dominating tower which is a local landmark, and a high enclosing stone wall. It's also rumoured to be haunted! In my book I've picked up the Abbey and moved it to another historical (and now very affluent) Sydney site, Hunters Hill.

If you love Grand Designs or Restoration Home, any of the X Factor or Got Talent shows, you'll love this story. There's television crews, pop stars, creepy towers, drug lords, angst and melodrama ... and yes, some of your favourite characters from The Red Door might even make another appearance ;)(less)

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How do you get inspired to write?

Rosa Fedele Besides architectural inspiration (see my previous Goodreads Q&A answer) I tend to observe people and their environments with an artist's eye. We are …moreBesides architectural inspiration (see my previous Goodreads Q&A answer) I tend to observe people and their environments with an artist's eye. We are taught not just to look, but to see. Just as Amsterdam has its own pearly and intimate light, perfectly captured by Vermeer and de Hooch, and the English countryside its own gentle grey-blue drifting clouds, so masterfully interpreted by Constable, Sydney has a particular atmosphere of its own. The sky’s blue is so startling it can burn retinas, the edge of every leaf is knife-sharp, the heat can singe nostril hair and our birds don’t twitter or chirp – they screech!

I suppose having a portraitist’s eye also helps: I watch inter-personal dynamics, mannerisms, the tilt of a head, a finger rubbed nervously across a philtrum. And so, as a character forms in my head, I make initial thumbnail sketches. Eventually these become finished drawings or paintings which I then incorporate into the book.

A peculiar thing I've also noticed: characters will take on a life of their own – just when you’ve got the plot sorted, the little buggers wander off and do anything they bloody please! Halfway through THE RED DOOR, my main girl’s behaviour was infuriating me. So, I tore up my first sketches and re-painted her as I preferred her – a no-nonsense woman with tenacity and resilience – and slowly she started to come around and see it my way ;)
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Rosa Fedele’s books

Average rating: 4.02 · 58 ratings · 46 reviews · 2 distinct works

	The Red Door 4.06 avg rating — 35 ratings — published 2015 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Legacy of Beauregarde 3.96 avg rating — 23 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

53 posts
Rosa Fedele's Blog

JUNE 2023 LONG WEEKEND OPEN STUDIO

WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS JUNE LONG WEEKEND?

Yep, we’re doing it again … artists are once again gathering across the Southern Highlands NSW and opening their studios and galleries JUST FOR YOU!

Wander the Highlands experiencing the work of local creatives, meet the artists in their studios, see where and how they create their work … and buy something wonderful for yourself or a friend! Enjoy local caf

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Rosa’s Recent Updates

Rosa Fedele wrote a new blog post JUNE 2023 LONG WEEKEND OPEN STUDIO WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS JUNE LONG WEEKEND?Yep, we’re doing it again … artists are once again gathering across the Southern Highlands NSW and opening t Read more of this blog post »
May 25, 2023 03:45AM · like

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