The world would be “awfully dull” without art.
So believes Trish Vevera, a Palm Coast artist with years of experience creating colorful and enlivening scenes on canvas and now, wood formats.
“I mean, one can eat and sleep and live in a house without art, but if you don’t have some kind of art – something else to stir your soul – then life is not worth living,” she told Palm Coast Magazine. “Unfortunately, a lot of people just eek out an existence. The fortunate enough ones do some type of art.”
Thus, Vevera’s version of art as an enrichment to life is scheduled for display from March 6 through April 6 in the gallery at Grand Living Realty. Formerly named “The Grand Gallery,” the space donated by the realty agency has a new name as of March: Reflecting the addition of a team to help Jan Jackson curate the works on display there, the gallery is now titled, “Expressions Art Gallery on Colbert at Grand Living Realty.” Vevera’s is one of the artists featured in this dual show: The pastel work of Karen Ann Patton is the other. (Watch for a feature on Patton in the April edition of Palm Coast Magazine.)
Vevera’s latest art passion is the use of cold beeswax mixed with oils. Its application to the chosen surface creates a much softer, somewhat foggy and misty appearance.
She started using beeswax during the pandemic. She wanted to try something new and quickly discovered a fulfilling way to pass the time during the lockdown.
“With beeswax, the paint goes on very smoothly and it works well for layering,” Vevera said. “You can scratch through the paint and let it dry and then layer it some more and scratch again. It creates a lot of texture.”
Vevera switched up from using brushes to apply acrylic paints to now using a palette knife to apply the beeswax mixed paints. She found that credit cards – expired ones, she notes – are useful for scraping through the paint to credit unique lines and edges.
“It is a little different way of painting, but also so fun to see what happens,” she said.
Vevera attributes her artistic bent to her mother – a consistent crafter. Her mother was a hatmaker continually working with feathers and felt as well as needle work projects. In grade school, Vevera was the “bulletin board person,” and she participated in a poster contest featuring poppies for Memorial Day. She recalled how the business owners of her hometown in Illinois would display the entries in their respective stores.
“In school, art for me was something I had to work hard at. So, I stuck with it,” she said. “It was more of a challenge for me. I worked at it and kept working at it. I guess I am still working at it.”
That is a humble statement coming from a woman whose work is included in several area galleries, throughout the United States and Canada as well as in the Czech Republic, Germany, Norway, Spain and Sweden. Vevera has received numerous awards from art groups including being named the 2018 Flagler County Artist of the Year by the Gargiulo Arts Foundation. — Amy Armstrong
