Welcome to Rosewood Cafe

Aaron Trotter
Born in August 1978, Aaron began his artistic career at the age of 3, when his father showed him how to fingerpaint on cancas. The first colour he used was blue, and this remains one of his all time favorites. He spent many childhood summers on his grandparent's farm in Delaware staring at the ethnic faces of world cultures made by his grnadmother, a famous potter and maskmaker.

Aaron was fortunate to enroll in an alternative magnet high school in Beacerton, Oregon called Arts and Communications where electvies strengthened and stretched his creativity in drawing, painting, photography, murals, creative writing, printmaking and design. Major projects for school included study of the history and mythology of the Native American Aztec and Hopi, and the Australian Aborigines. After high school he traveled in Europe for three weeks, visiting the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Sweden.

Aaron went to Evergreen State College in Olmpia, Washington where he Earned a B.A. in Art and Culture in 2001. His studies ranged from Art History to Mayan archaelogy, Buddhism to Organic Farming. He traveled extensively in Central America, New Zealand, Australia and Southeast Asia under independent study contracts. Since graduation he has volunteered with Americorps and the Student Conservation Association: as a visitor center interpreter at Bandelier National Monument in New Mexico, he guided tours through Pueblo ruins; as an archaeologist-illustrator for Klondike Gold-Rush National Park in Alaska, he surveyed the historic Chilkoot Trail, mapping and documenting artifacts.

Profound influences in his work have been made by: Wassily Kandinsky, Mark Tobey, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso, Lee Krasner, Alex Grey, Joseph Campbell, Hermann Hess, Radiohead and the Matrix. Aaron currently volunteers at the Tacoma Art Museum in the Open Art Studio, and lives in North Tacoma.