Vera Campion

Artist Statement

I really love collage. Any new and fresh ideas always come from a collage. I love the feeling of cutting the paper and putting shapes together. It is as if the picture grows out organically from the cut-up shapes and the image is a surprise. I often use a small collage as a starting point for a larger work in acrylic paints and mixed media.

Bio

Vera Campion was born in London in 1944, grew up in Czechoslovakia, lived in England and immigrated to the United States in 1970. It was here, in the US that she was introduced to painting and her career began. In 1977 she moved to a building where many other artists lived and Open Studios were organized every year. Her first participation was in 1978. She studied at the Artists League in New York City with Knox Martin. In summer of 1978 she went to Vermont where she painted and drew from nature in order to learn. Till this day she makes small pastels or watercolors from nature. She participated in Knox Martin's once-a-week workshops for a number of years. Knox Martin opened her eyes to the elements that mark all great works of art.

She has shown mostly in New York although she had a Solo exhibition in Prague and work shown around this country. She opens her studio to public once a year. Lot of her inspiration comes from poetry and she does have a poet friend with whom she carries on a dialog at present.

She loves to work and goes by the idea that inspiration is not waited for but is invited. She is a long-time member of Artists Equity of New York.

Her work is in many private collections.