Vanessa Katz
Vanessa Katz was born and
raised in England and now resides in Palm Desert, California. At an early age
she was always fascinated with color and began painting as a teenager. The art
she created in her youth and early career was comprised of only very detailed
representational work.
She resumed painting full
time after her daughter left home for college.
Bored with the confines of realistic work and with a desire to paint freely,
she began to develop an impressionistic style and to paint from her
imagination. Sometimes dreaming a
painting or simply allowing it to evolve organically (effortlessly) from
within.
Confident and energetic brushwork
with bold, bright, rich colors allow the freedom for her to express thoughts,
feelings and life in a vibrant way. The
people who view Vanessa’s paintings have commented that her work leaves them
feeling happy and uplifted. “I love the
fact that my work can evoke positive emotions. I am honored and thrilled. What
a privilege”.
Currently Vanessa’s work
includes a variety of subjects from abstracts, landscapes, trees and
animals. One of her passions is to support
groups protecting animal rights and has done a series of animals on cigar boxes
benefitting pet charities. This series
was a perfect match as her husband has a cigar business and always has many
empty cigar boxes. “They make perfect
canvases as they often have such attractive paper borders which create a
natural frame and I like the effect of allowing the gold foil from the original
cigar label to show through. I then
lacquer them to achieve a very glossy and attractive finish”.
Vanessa chooses to use
different mediums such as ink, crayon, charcoal and gold leaf. Her preference is mainly using acrylic, her
favorite brands being Golden and Holbein.
She also loves to use Japanese fine art papers, old postcards, symbols,
old ledger books and letters, in fact most anything interesting she can get her
hands on to add to her mixed media pieces.
“It is very engaging and exciting for me to experiment with all the
various papers and the like. It is important to me that my work creates an
element of intrigue and wonder. I attend many workshops to learn new and interesting
techniques from other artists. The journey of discovery is what amazes me. As
an artist the process of learning while experimenting creates an internal
vibration. It is very empowering and exciting."
Painting for Vanessa is all
about the expression of fun and her love of life. She paints with a sense of ease, serenity and
excitement. When she finds herself
struggling to “make it happen”, she realizes it is time to stop for the day. She listens to music, paints while standing
and moves and dances to get in the “flow and the zone” and then hopefully a
masterpiece is born!
Her studio is in her home,
which allows her more time to paint. She
offers her collectors ‘Take Tea and See’ by appointment. This is a chance for them to visit her and
see her work up close and personal. She
serves tea (she is English after all and coffee is offered too).
“You cannot begin to convey
the texture, energy, depth and color of a painting in a photo so I love when
collectors can see and feel the work in person – it is a completely different
experience. Collectors love to see my
studio where the work actually happens. It gives me a chance to describe the
process of creating the work of art and share a connection with my collectors”.
The life of a successful
artist includes a great deal of time networking, marketing and being on the
computer, which Vanessa embraces and enjoys.
She has a website and an active Facebook page. She has built a large
following on Facebook in which she is constantly sharing her own work and in
addition features other artists and interesting art related stories. She strives to make it interesting, inspiring
and to allow a glimpse into the life of an artist.
Vanessa truly shares her love
of painting in her work.
She invites you to visit her
website:
and / or connect with her on
her Facebook Page
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