We had the good fortune of connecting with Rory Baxter and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Rory, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I believe art makes the world go round. Ever since I was young, I have been deeply influenced and drawn to the beauty of the world around me. When I was little, I started cake decorating through 4H and was winning my county fair and state competitions year after year and continued through the end of my high school career. I would make cakes on the side for friends and families’ birthdays and special occasions and that was my first introduction to a creative job. My love for creativity at that time was driven by my desire to create beautiful cakes, but stemmed into other forms of baking and now includes a special love for bread. Through 4H I also developed a deep love for raising livestock and looked for a way to blend my two seemingly different loves, and that is when I found photography. In middle and high school I developed my deep love for traditional fine art and my electives were constantly entirely made of art and photography classes. I developed a deep passion for photographing my Scottish Highland cows and became exposed to the perspective that everything is, or can be art; that the world is driven by art. I took college level art classes while I was in high school and began to push more seriously to go to art school instead of a traditional college. I became the president of my high school’s National Art Honor Society because I gave a speech at the time about how during the pandemic, it seemed the entire world looked to art. For hope, for entertainment, for purpose, for encouragement – and my fellow students found my outlook on art to be really inspiring. I am now pursuing my creative career on the side through my shop on Etsy called the Brighton Company as well as pursuing a professional creative career as a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia. I am in interior design major because I truly believe good art and design helps elevate the quality of life everyday for everyone who has the privilege to experience it. I want to change it so that it’s not a special occasion that someone gets to experience good design in their surroundings, but rather an ordinary occurrence.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
What’s infused into my art that I think is a little bit different than others is my contradiction of an identity. I’m this mix and cross between an artist and a rancher, and I think that comes through in my art and my process. I can be out working cattle and fixing fences, behind a camera capturing moments in time, or creating art in all mediums just for the sake of creating. Both have taught me to treasure the slow life and the little things, persevere through hard times, and that consistency and dedication make or break the deal. Just like working with my cattle everyday forms a strong bond between me and them, continuing to push my creativity everyday helps me grow as an artist. This unique blend of interests really caught the eye of colleges when I graduated high school and I was very fortunate to be offered several very prestigious scholarships to pursue interior design school. It wasn’t easy to get to that point though. I think something that artists face and I have personally dealt with is how subjective it can be. I had to learn to take criticism and very harsh feedback, and that is something I’m learning even more now that I’m an art student in college. While there is value in taking feedback to improve your work, it also teaches a balance between trying to please others through producing quality work, and also realizing that you will not be the perfect fit for everyone. Not every client is going to like your work, and that’s okay. Staying true to myself as an artist and also outside of that as a person is something I’ve come to value immensely.
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
So many fun things to do in and around Denver!
My top recs for places to visit in Denver:
1. Denver Art Museum – Known nationally for it’s collection! There are also many other museums to check out!
2. Meow Wolf – Quite literally an otherworldly experience! If you haven’t heard of Meow Wolf, its a giant, immersive, and interactive exhibit of what an alien planet might look like.
3. RiNo Art District – One of my favorite places to wander around! The entire district is covered with wall murals. Every year, artists gather during the Denver “Crush Walls” festival and paint the murals. Tons of restaurants and even murals by the famous Shepard Fairey.
4. Denver Botanic Gardens – So so pretty to visit during the Spring and Summer! If you’re here during the holidays, they also do a fantastic holiday lights show!
5. The Grizzly Rose – This is my FAVORITE place in Denver. Truly doesn’t get more Colorado than this! Take a free line dancing lesson, ride the mechanical bull, and dance the night away! Truly one of the most fun ways to spend a weekend night… I go often!
My favorite places to eat in Denver:
1. FIRE at the Art Hotel – Located on the top of the voted #1 hotel in Colorado, the Art, FIRE is some of the best food you will ever have!
2. Sushi Rama – Such a fun experience! The sushi circulates around the restaurant on a long, curvy, conveyor belt and as it passes by you pick off what you want!
3. Casa Bonita – Okay maybe don’t go here expecting great food, but it is definitely a memorable experience! This place is like a trip to Mexico. Watch the cliff divers from your table as you eat and wander around the gemstone cave.
Things to do around Denver:
Lots of outdoor activities all year round. In the warm months Coloradoans love to hike, fish, paddle board, kayak, camp, you name it. And in the cold months skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling, snow shoeing, ice fishing, ice sculpture festivals and more!
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I will forever owe my parents an incredible amount of gratitude for everything they have done for me to support me and my dreams. From letting me make huge messes in the kitchen, hauling my cattle and I to shows at the crack of dawn, and now not just believing in me, but also investing financially in me by supporting my college tuition to pursue a creative career at SCAD. At first they didn’t quite understand if it was possible to have a successful career in the arts, but now they are some of my biggest supporters.
My high school art teacher, Heather Bertarelli, at Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, CO has truly been one of the most influential individuals in my life and I have an immense amount of love and gratitude for her. Over the years she has played the role of teacher, mentor, and friend in my life. She has always believed in me from the start and encouraged me to keep pushing even when others didn’t quite understand why art is so important to me. What an incredible privilege and honor it has been to have been guided by her all these years, and even now that I’m graduated and no longer her student, her support for me is still unwavering.
My love, Andrew. Who pushed me to pursue my dreams and make the leap to go to SCAD and move to Georgia even when I became unsure. Who believes in me relentlessly, encourages me to no end, and sometimes has more faith in me than I have in myself. He picks me up when I’m down, holds me up when I can’t stand by myself, and his love has never wavered through the hardest, darkest, hours and days of my life. Instead he walked right by my side through them with me.
Website: thebrightonco.etsy.com
Instagram: @thebrightonco
Other: Email: hellobrightoncompany@gmail.com Etsy Shop: The Brighton Co