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Whether sailing Alaska coastal waters or snorkeling Hawaiian shores, V Rae chronicles natural life through bold Freestyle Expressions that leap from the canvas to your heart.  Defying convention with a startling fusion of color and negative space, V paints freestyle to transport each personal encounter through time and space, and share with the world her seamless blend of art, nature and individual personality.

Like Humpback whales, V migrates between Alaska, the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii each year painting from platforms frequented by her subjects.  V is Artist In Residence at the Alaska Zoo and Alaska SeaLife Center marine research and sanctuary.  A growing body of V Rae Expressions are featured in zoos, aquariums, national parks and galleries across the Continental United States.

Each year a portion of V's work is dedicated to wildlife preservation efforts that protect and sustain the natural tension between subsistence and conservation unique to Alaska and Hawaii, as well as non-profit humanitarian outreach.

GREETING

 Thank you so much for visiting my website. People frequently ask how I arrive at the style and color in my paintings.  The short answer is I paint what I see.  Why I see what I see is a more complicated question, but I don't spend much time on that side of my brain.  In a sense, my mind operates like a thermal imaging camera.  I see the spirit of living things reflected in color and find watercolor the most accurate medium to capture the impression.  But the application is somewhat unconventional.  

 I generally paint on canvas with hand-sculpt paper overlay or Yupo (a synthetic fine art paper).  The hand sculpted paper surface on canvas provides a textured base that adds dimension and body to the watercolor application, enhancing the three dimension illusion of two dimensional paintings.  Another illusory emphasis in my work is the use of negative (white) space.  I love negative space.  The notion that nothing becomes something only the brain can untangle tickles my conundrum bone.  

My more abstract work is direct application of water based pigment on Yupo, a slippery surface that wrestles for control and teases the senses.  To paint on Yupo, the surface must be perfectly level in order to control the free flowing movement of watercolor over the synthetic base.  The result is a deep, rich, more translucent color than conventional applications.  But there's a downside:  If I forget and lift the painting prematurely I end up paper-in-hand, portrait-on-floor.  Painting on Yupo reminds me of that old Simon and Garfunkel tune Slip Slid'n Away. 

Enjoy!

 

                                                            V  Rae