Erin Rothstein has been honing her skills in photorealistic painting since she was a child. It’s in her blood: her mother, uncle and grandfather were practitioners of the intricate style.
The Toronto-based artist trained at Dawson College in Quebec, then at Concordia University in Montreal.
Rothstein originally began painting food to break out of a creative slump, and it was exactly what she needed. Food is now the inspiration for most of her work.
“I’ve been a foodie forever,” she says. “Mealtime for me is sacred.”
Her creations typically begin with a trip to the grocery store. Then she’ll take close-up photos of whatever she’s painting and begin creating a likeness on canvas, leaving a bit of room for whimsy and improvisation. Usually it’ll take around 40 hours for a complete painting to come together.
The resulting still lifes imbue a sense of magic and vibrancy into everyday food items that we easily view as mundane, but aren’t.

Avocado
Acrylic on canvas - 36" x 48"
Erin Rothstein

Kale
Acrylic on canvas - 36" x 48"
Erin Rothstein

Pineapple
Acrylic on canvas
Erin Rothstein

Pomegranate
Acrylic on canvas - 36" x 48"
Erin Rothstein

Tomatoes
Acrylic on canvas - 36" x 36"
Erin Rothstein

Purple Cabbage
Acrylic on canvas - 48" x 48"
Erin Rothstein
Check out more of Rothstein’s work at: erinrothstein.com