Rosey Peterson grew up in rural New Brunswick, where the forests were her playground. She would spend hours hunting for treasures in the woods, often bringing them home for her mother, Linda. She loved to find bones. She saw beauty in them. They evoked a curiosity in her for the stories of the life they left behind.
The first animal skull Rosey painted (photo left named First Coyote)was inspired by the celebration of Día de los Muertos in Mexico. Once a year, people honour their dead by visiting their graves, praying for their souls, and decorating skulls made of sugar or clay in their honour. It was that last part, the act of transforming grief into art, of bringing colour to death that resonated with her. The skull was found by her husband Cameron while he was out prospecting. He found it picked clean, lying in the ditch on a dirt road in Woodstock, New Brunswick.
Since then, Rosey has become a collector of skulls. Family, friends, even strangers have arrived on her doorstep with bones. Coyote, bear, beaver and moose in all stages of decay. One by one, she has painted life back into each.
Rosey and her husband spend lots of time hiking through New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. They often come across animals that have died for one reason or another. They bring the skulls home and clean them. Rosey glues the teeth in and then brushes on a base coat of paint (usually black). If the jaws are available she glues them together. Then she paints a design on them, and finishes with a clear coat of varnish. Sometimes she is inspired by a feeling, or at other times she just sees where the brush takes her.

Rosey Peterson a grandi dans une région rurale du Nouveau-Brunswick avec la forêt comme terrain de jeu. Elle pouvait passer des heures dans les bois à chercher des trésors qu'elle ramenait souvent à la maison pour sa mère, Linda. Elle aimait surtout trouver des os. Elle y voyait de la beauté. Ils piquaient sa curiosité et elle se demandait quelles étaient leurs histoires. Le premier crâne peint par Rosey a été inspiré par Día de Los Muertos, une fête célébrée au Mexique. Depuis, Rosey collectionne les crânes. Sa famille, ses amis et même des inconnus lui apportent des os. Des coyotes, des ours, des castors et des orignaux dans toutes les phases de décomposition. Un par un, elle leur redonne vie en les peinturant. Treize crânes sont au Musée Redpath pour le semestre.