WELCOME
The Story Behind Dolce Vita Arte.
About Rochelle
FINE ARTIST · ROME & CALIFORNIA
My artistic identity was shaped in Rome. The Renaissance masters, the ancient frescoes, the timeless sense of beauty that lives in every corner of that city shaped the way I see and the way I paint. Classically trained in fine art, I bring that depth and that eye to surface design. Italian soul meets California living. Every pattern carries both.
This is surface design with a story.
I create for brands and spaces that want something genuine. Something painted by hand, rooted in place and culture, impossible to replicate.
Bachelor of Fine Arts - Corcoran School of Art, Washington D.C.
Graduate Studies - Tyler School of Art, Rome, Italy
Master of Fine Arts | Graduate Studies - Florence Academy. Florence, Italy
Painter first. Always.
Art has been the constant thread of my life. Private lessons as a child, a fine art degree, years as a portrait painter.
Then life called me toward something bigger. I built The Elopement Experience a destination wedding design business across Italy, France, Greece, California, and beyond.
Four books. Featured in Forbes. But a painter never stops seeing. I was painting and designing wedding concepts with linen, flowers, and light before I called it that.
Then COVID stopped everything. And I picked up a brush again.
The elements and photographs I had been collecting through years of travel suddenly had a home.
The cypress trees of Tuscany. The cupolas of Rome. The waves of California. Every place I had loved became a pattern.
Today, I run both The Elopement Experience and Dolce Vita Arte.
Two studios. One way of seeing.
THE HEART BEHIND
WHAT I CREATE
There is an Italian saying, anche l'occhio vuole la sua parte.
Even the eye wants its share. Beauty is not an afterthought. It is a necessity.
That belief lives in everything I create.
Each pattern begins with a place, a culture, a moment worth preserving. Painted by hand. Made for fabric, wallpaper, and the spaces you love most.