Rogue River Reflections By: Victoria Veedell

My paintings are like memories, suggesting landscapes not necessarily seen but felt. They are an emotional response to the environment. I want to share the way I see and feel when I’m out observing in nature. My fascination with the way light affects color and atmosphere keeps me excited to continue to explore and paint new landscapes. I feel like the possibilities are endless. I hope to create a sense of stillness and serenity.

My inspiration comes from my travels both near and far. Travel has become an important component in my work as it allows me to observe and compare gradients of color, light and atmosphere in different geographic locations. My travels have taken me through many places such as Iceland, Shanghai, Kerela (India) and Japan. Whether it’s overseas or around my home in the Bay Area of California, I gather ideas by taking walks and recording my observations with photography and watercolor studies. These become the memory of place and source of inspiration. I make all of my oil paintings in the studio on canvas, paper or wood panel.

I begin a series of paintings by sorting through the photos and small studies. Once I have a selection I want to work with, I manipulate the photos in Photoshop by cropping or blurring to the desired effect. I like to begin a painting with a loose under-painting of either bold pink or yellow this allows for a bit of that color to peek through the layers adding excitement to the final painting. I continue to build up the surface through successive layering of colors moving from darks to lights and back again. The paintings are made up of countless layers of paint and glazing of colors. As I paint, I react to subsequent layers until and an inner glow appears and the image emerges.