About the studio
Beauty is not shallow. You will not find it by staying on the surface. Real beauty goes deep, burns bright, and has a fire of its own. It is not made up. It is discovered.
What we do
Rooted Star Studios makes art with people in the room. Murals for the walls a community shares. Paintings made live while a crowd watches. Caricatures drawn in minutes at a party. Workshops where a whole group paints together. Talks about what it takes to find the beauty in your own story.
Fine art, teaching, shows and guiding others. Different rooms, one way of working. Everything is made by hand, on the day, in Merced, California and wherever we are invited.
Our name
Everyone has a story — their own, and the one they share with their people. It holds wins, losses, joy, hard times, creativity and blessings. All of it makes us who we are. To be rooted is to go deeper into that story and find what it means, because none of it happened for nothing.
Roots keep us steady. We can still feel everything, but we do not fall over. That depth is what lets us see real beauty, not just the surface.
Your story is yours, but what it teaches is for everyone — like a star that shines far above any one person. When we go deep, we also rise, and we can share what we found with the world.
To be a star is to be a light: to guide, to tell the truth, so that others can find their way too. We do not make meaning. We find it.
Rooted Star Studios is here to do some good in the world. We make art with meaning. It shows who we are and where we come from, and makes it beautiful. In the burning way, of course.
We are also here to help others find the rooted star inside them. The sky does not have just one star. It is lit up by many. Come, let us discover beauty together, and walk through the earth to find the sky.
You need not bring anything but yourself, and a dazzling courage.
At the head of the studio
The studio grew from the work of Susan Gromala. She has spent more than thirty years painting, performing and teaching. Seven of those years were on tour across the country. Then she made Merced her home and opened the studio that became Rooted Star.
She leads every mural, event and class, and the studio's way of thinking is hers. But the name is a promise about all of us: rooted enough to feel, and bright enough to guide.
Why the lily
The flower in our logo is the "Forever Susan" lily. Its petals are so dark they look almost black, with edges like flame. Its colours run from deep purple into orange and gold. They became the colours you see across this site. It is the whole idea of the studio in one bloom: what if stars grew from soil, and flowers lit up the sky?
Looking deep takes courage. It means facing hard times without looking away, to find the light that was always there. When we see ourselves deeply, we begin to heal. A beautiful healing.
Begin the conversation
Every project starts with a talk. Tell us what you have in mind.
