Janina Rossiter: From Artistic Inspiration to Ocean Artivist
Janina Rossiter is an active artivist advocating for ocean conservation by creating artwork, writing children’s books, and holding exhibitions. Janina spent her early years in a small suburb near Hamburg, located in northern Germany. She had dyslexia and had troubles with other classes, but she “was always quite sure that she was going to do something creative”, developing her love for art. As a child, she often traveled to France with her parents during holidays. Janina has a vivid memory of visiting Place du Tertre, an artist square in Paris, where artists would gather and work on their art pieces. Seeing artists fervently creating inspired Janina, fostering her unique love for France and influenced her future career.
When Janina was 15, she spent a year in Alexandria, Louisiana, where she experienced a different school life compared to Germany. The push for extracurriculars and creativity allowed Janina to seek new approaches to art, such as designing posters and flyers for threatre productions. “It was all an amazing experience. When I came back, I think I was a bit transformed. I liked school and I was keen on finishing school so I could go to university”.
Her passion for art led her to study art in university, specializing in illustration and communication design, constructing the foundation of her career in the present. During her university years, Janina developed a fear of not finding a job working as an illustrator. “Back then it wasn’t so easy…Becoming an illustrator was more traditional. You work for publishing houses and it is harder to make money”. One of her professors also gave her advice, saying that it was tough to live as an illustrator and she would have more job choices if she chose communication design. Janina also realized that she had talent with advertisement design and creating campaigns. After her first year of college, she settled on communication design.
Janina initially worked for companies to design packaging, but soon realized that she did not enjoy her job: Janina was always environmentally friendly, but the clients she worked with held different values. “It was really difficult for me as my first job. I made money but I wasn’t aligned with what they actually produce”. In 2018, Janina came across plastic pollution, which sparked her desire to make a positive impact through her artwork. While she was always environmentally conscious throughout her life, Janina realized she could do more to help the planet.
Eventually, Janina quit her job in an effort to start a family. As she finally had the chance to freely occupy her time, she started working on children’s books. She fueled her work with passion and published 9 books in total. During this process, she started a new career as a freelance illustrator. She used her new style of alcohol ink and stippling to redesign her book “The ABC Animal Picnic”, which earned the Mom’s Choice Award. While she was working on this book, she began to foster a desire to write another book about ocean life. Janina recalled how, as a child, she participated in competitive swimming and had always felt a strong connection to the water. Her popular picture book “1,2,3 Who’s Cleaning the Sea?” was the result of her love for the ocean and became a breakthrough of creativity for her path as an artivist.
Janina’s career path also led her to become an educator. Initially invited as a guest speaker on plastic pollution, she started visiting classrooms to read her book and engage with students. Despite facing challenges and feeling ignored by some famous individuals in the professional world, her interactions with students helped her stay motivated as an “artivist” (artist + activist).
In the future, Janina aspires to continue creating artwork that evokes change. She hopes to write more books that help children understand the planet’s challenges. She aims to exhibit her work, publish more books, and maintain her motivation to make a difference.
Janina’s message to others pursuing a similar path is to seek a support system with people who share similar passions. She believes in connecting with individuals who can provide assistance and understanding. Additionally, she plans to continue organizing artivism chats to connect people with similar interests and fears.
In the next five years, Janina envisions herself continuing to grow personally and professionally. She hopes to see her artwork exhibited and to have more books published. However, she acknowledges facing numerous rejections throughout the year, which has been a source of difficulty. Nonetheless, she remains determined to persevere and inspire change through her art.