Living in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains with all its beauty and inspiration is a gift that any artist would appreciate. Vicki draws upon this inspiration for many of her paintings, as well as creating images that are more dreamlike and abstract in nature. She has been painting in oils for over 35 years and teaches painting lessons at Isothermal Community College, Tryon Painters and Sculptors, workshops, and out of her home studio in Tryon, North Carolina.
She began painting at an early age, and was encouraged to do so by her mother, who was artistic. At Cottey College in Nevada, Missouri, Vicki began her formal art studies, then later went on to earn a degree in art from The University of Southern Indiana. She took additional courses in realistic drawing and plein-air painting through The Atelier art school in Minneapolis in the 1990s. It was there that Vicki met her most inspiring teacher, Ceceile Hartleib, whom she credits with teaching her more about painting than she ever learned from any other teacher.
Vicki moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2004 and began showing her work in galleries and participating in exhibitions as well as studio tours. It was living in Santa Fe (with all its gorgeous sunsets) that inspired her to create her “Above the Horizon” series of sunrise and sunset paintings. After spending six years in New Mexico, she and her husband moved to North Carolina in 2010. Here she continues to paint skyscapes, landscapes, dreamscapes, metaphysical paintings, and abstracts in oil, acrylic, watercolor and alcohol ink.
Vicki’s paintings have been shown in over 80 exhibitions, many of them solo. Her paintings hang in private collections across the United States, and she welcomes commissions. She is represented by galleries in North Carolina and South Carolina, as well as several online.