After being employed in education and as a licensed counselor for over 30 years, Vicki is finally spending more time in her art studio. The creative process has been her love since childhood and has greatly influenced her life.
Vicki was born and raised in Wisconsin and her formal art training began in the late 70's at Madison Area Technical College where she recalls taking classes in drawing and painting and exhibiting her work in local art shows. Vicki, her husband and two sons eventually moved to North Pole Alaska where her husband hauled freight to the North Slope. Vicki worked for the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District and attended human service classes at UAF evenings and summers. She continued to paint and enter her work in exhibitions and painted Talking Sticks for Athabascan elder Howard Luke. Vicki’s love of Alaska and the Northern landscape can still be seen in many of her paintings. It was in Alaska where Vicki began to look at her art as more than a hobby. She released several limited addition prints that were well received and integrated art projects and workshops at various schools in the Fairbanks North Star School District.
After remaining in Alaska for 14 years, Vicki and her husband moved to rural New Mexico in 1999 and built a home and small art studio on 7 acres south of Belen. Vicki has had her paintings and assemblage pieces juried into National and International Exhibitions where she has won numerous awards in both painting and assemblage. Vicki’s personal belief is that we are all artists doing our best to create our most memorable art piece titled: A Life. Vicki believes that for her, the process of creating holds the most value.
Artist Statement
Nature has always proven to be a wonderful teacher. For me, the creative process usually starts with a walk, a dream or an object I picked up. I keep a scattered journal of sorts and do a great deal of photography. I enter my ideas which may or may not eventually become a starting point for a new piece. I began painting almost exclusively in oils in 2015. I also create small mixed media sculptures which are my version of Talking Sticks; I call them Story Starters. I assemble them using a combination of my own clay sculptures, found objects and sometimes a few pottery shards from my property south of Belen. I work them into some of my art to honor the deep rich history of the area.
The years spent in Alaska and New Mexico have enriched my life greatly and influence most all my work. I often dream of the places that I have been and the people I have met. I never succeed to fully capture the images that I envision. It is the process of painting and creating something that gives me the most joy. In life and in work we all strive to fit the pieces of our lives together in a meaningful way. I always hope that my work will enrich the life of the viewer in some small way- which ultimately is the reward.
