Description:

Retired from an engineering career, I decided nine years ago to focus my creative energy on visual art. Creating visual images that evoke positive emotion – first for me and then others – is what art empowers my art. It is the personal expression of fleeting thought, whimsy, a smile, a beautiful day. I paint in soft pastel, reveling in its vibrant, luscious texture and colors to convey my inspiration for natural beauty around me. A floral bouquet, a farm market stand, the vast vista and rolling clouds, all call to me to interpret with a painting. My work is informed from my first lesson with pastel artist Terrie Lombardi and continued study with her and other notable artists, who have allowed me to share my inspiration. I continue my study in order to capture the light and create a composition that moves the observer through the painting. Sharing my visual voice with others gives me purpose and I trust I will enliven a moment through my art, for the viewer.

Vanda has been selected for numerous juried shows in the region and achieved signature status with the Pastel Society of Colorado in 2011. In 2013 she exhibited her work at a show called Purely Pastel at the Ester and John Clay Fine Art gallery at the college in Cheyenne as well as many other venues in the region. In 2014 she was commissioned to create fifteen small paintings of the Indian Paint Brush flower for the Wyoming State Legislature, to take to the Far East on a trade mission. In 2015 she again painted the Wyoming State flower as gifts for the Governor's Prayer Breakfast. Her paintings are in pastel with a vibrant palette in an impressionistic style.