Artist Profile - Vannesa Pomeroy
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Biography
Vanessa Pomeroy trained in Fine art at Newcastle University, and subsequently at the University of Bologna having won an Italian government postgraduate scholarship. She has exhibited widely, in Herefordshire, London, and in Italy. Her work is in private collections nationally, and in the United States. Vanessa has also taught and lectured widely in the field of art, both in this country, with the UCLA in Florence Italy, and most recently this year in New Zealand. Vanessa's primary source of inspiration for her work is the countryside of rural Herefordshire, where rich meadows touch the Wye River and the Welsh mountains brood beneath dramatic, heavenly skies. Her paintings capture the broad and majestic panoramas of the countryside. Yet these are not landscapes which look back to a rural idyll, but instead show the countryside as majestic and powerful, its very structure and harmonious colour showing forth strength and peace. Recent work has employed greater texture and layering of paint to achieve light and contrast of mood and colour.
Artist Statement
Vanessa was born in Cape Town, South Africa. She trained in Fine art at Newcastle University, and subsequently at the University of Bologna having won an Italian government postgraduate scholarship. She has exhibited in Herefordshire, London, nationally and in Italy. Her work is in private collections nationally, and in the United States.
Her multi talented output reflects her search for an underlying permanent structure. Landscape Paintings of broad panoramas are a celebration of vital colour, dynamic sculptural perspective, and carefully considered design. Her paintings range from well considered compositions expressing poise and stature, to dramatic passionate scenes, employing vibrant light and colour. Her drawing expresses grace and strength of line and rhythm, combining botanical accuracy with life and vitality.
She has taught and lectured in the field of art and design, sculpture, and the history of art. Teaching has included school, college and adult tuition. Freelance design work has included specific interior design commissions, graphic design for a recording company, decoration for a harpsichord with flower painting, and garden (landscape) design.
Vanessa's primary source of inspiration for her work is the countryside of rural Herefordshire, where rich meadows touch the Wye River and the Welsh mountains brood beneath dramatic, heavenly skies. Her landscape paintings capture the broad and majestic panoramas of this naturally beautiful area, incorporating universal themes of light and the changing atmosphere, exploring the emotive colour of the mountain ranges. Yet these are not landscapes which look backward nostalgically to a rural idyll. They reveal the significance of the countryside to us in the here and now. The soaring skies, rolling hills and grand mountains are captured in form and colour, structured and harmonious, as an embodiment of strength, and peace. The paintings explore the impact of these stunning panoramas to each of us as an integral and vital part of our own being, part of our world view. They make a difference to the lives of those who see them and experience them.
Her most recent paintings fuse dark storm clouds with bright light driving down on the black mountain range. This border country of Herefordshire has been Vanessa's chosen subject for paintings emphasizing expansive space and the changing atmosphere of this dramatic area.
Vanessa has always been attracted to the balance and unity found in the classical form of the Italian Renaissance paintings, which informs her work with an underlying classical technique and idea. At the same time her artistic vision is contemporary and modern; she is equally inspired by a work of Hodgkin, or Constable, - a Leonardo or Van Gogh drawing. Her work emphasises essential qualities of life: energy, vitality, power and grace. She consistently examines the relationship between the individual and the wider world, between microcosm and macrocosm. She creates an intimate and vibrant relationship between her subject and her audience bringing them together in a shared experience.