RoseBee an Americana artist passed away in 2016.
Her real name was Cecelia Surdut.
She is buried in the Massachusetts National Cemetery in Barnstable, Ma. with her husband
Norman Alton Surdut. I just spoke with her daughter, and she is getting me the info from the cemetery.
Will have her date of birth, and death.
My mom and Dad were Cecelia, and Norman’s Best Friends since I was about 8 years old.
My mother was also an accomplished artist, yet died at 52.
Rosebee and my Mom had a passion for art. My dad and Norman were two peas in a pod.
Oh, the stories I could tell. These four were a crazy crowd.

From Becky Bouchard
_____

Artist Statement
ROSETTE: "My paintings reflect not only the life I lived and stories my grandfather told me, but America as it was long ago: when times were fairly straightforward and simple and there was a sense of magic all around us. The legacy of characters I knew and those my grandfather introduced to me fill my canvases with a sense of joy. Both real and imagined characters find their home in my work. I love my country, so my use of the American flag is not some politically correct statement for me - I've used them from the start. What I hope is that when people view my work they feel the same joy I feel that I do as I create each piece. People ask me how I can come up with so many different scenes and topics and I reply that I've kept my eyes and ears open for many years, now, (I was born in 1932) so there's lots to paint!"

"Rosebee" was raised in a New England town by her grandparents. Her grandfather was a whaler, and many of her paintings are inspired by her recollection of stories he told to her as a child - about sails, and whales and mermaid tails. Her grandmother was a quilter, and quilt patterns are very much in evidence in nearly all of Rosebee's paintings. Rosebee came to painting late in life. Self-taught, she was prompted to begin painting because she wanted to create a visual record of all of her happy childhood memories. In the process, she has gained both widespread popularity and recognition. In 1987, for example, she was named the Most Promising Marine Painter in the Country by the Mystic Seaport Maritime Gallery.

Her paintings are in the permanent collection of a number of prominent art museums, including The Peabody Museum, Salem Massachusetts; The Springfield Museum of Fine Art, Springfield, Massachusetts; The Barnum Museum, Bridgeport, Connecticut; The Heritage Plantation, Sandwich, Massachusetts; and the Custom House, Salem, Massachusetts.

Submitted by Becky Bouchard whose source is the website of American Folk Art

The following biography is from Peter Kostoulakos, Lowell, Massachusetts

Rosebee grew up on the fringes of the dying whaling industry in New Bedford, Massachusetts, where she shadowed her seafaring grandfather. For as long ago as she can remember his stories filled her bright imagination with vivid images of times long past and topics most folks call tall tales. But, tall tales often grow from a grain of truth.

Rosebee's grandfather answered every question and explained each mystery through his fantastic yarns. She listened intently and conjured up images of ghost ships haunting the Northeast coast, slicing through the diamond studded seas at midnight, searching for the next victim of their skullduggery - or protecting secret buried treasure Rosebee believed only she could discover. She accepted that dolphins befriended wayward vessels and guided them safely home and that the spirits of ancient wanderers danced away the night in the neighboring cemetery - and even, perhaps, in her own attic. So her childhood hunger to comprehend the surrounding world was greatly populated with mer-families, Indians, sailors, whales and dolphins that frolicked just beyond the horizon, pioneers and pirates.

Throughout her life Rosebee has recorded the rich legacy her grandfather passed to her, in diaries. She calls them memory books and they bulge to overflowing. But, Rosebee wasn't content to merely write a history of his gift of words - something more had to be done. At an age when many lives are suffused with quieter days because children have left the nest; when volunteering or gardening fill hours once devoted to family; and when many souls experience feeling left out or left behind, Rosebee's spirit compelled her to paint the people, the activities, and the real and imagined lives of the characters so lovingly tendered by her grandfather. She has never deviated from her original goal and has remained true to her vision - and that has carried her far.

Rosebee is often, and appropriately, labeled "America's Premier Nautical and Patriotic Folk Artist". It is a well-deserved title because her use of American flags and the inclusion of everyday characters of sailing fantasy and fiction are not a new invention for her - she employed them from the start, as she rendered memories to canvas.

Rosebee is included in many museum collections and important private collections.

Source:
Hughes Art Gallery