Vera Berv

Biography

Music!Dance! Colors! People! A thread of music and movement, of color and design, has been a presence woven through Vera’s life as a pianist, modern dancer, ballroom dancer, Argentine Tango dancer, dabber in oil painting at an early age, speech therapist, skin and color consultant, mandala counselor, and greeting card designer! Vera Berv was born in New York City. The family had crossed the Atlantic Ocean several times on the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth before Vera was 8. She started school in French-speaking Antwerp, Belgium. Back in Manhattan, at age 9, there was a brief season where the whole family (Vera, her sister Dorothy, and her parents) took oil painting and ceramics classes. Painting, however, couldn’t compete with the hours she had to spend practicing classical piano. More than 50 years later, after raising 3 boys, and having moved from the East Coast to Colorado, to be near her grandchildren, Vera began to play with pastels in order to reconnect with her college roommate, who lived nearby. It was 2007 when Carole suggested, ‘Let’s take an art course together!” Vera said, ‘Let’s do it!” When Carole suggested pastels, Vera agreed! The continuation of a ‘lifelong’ friendship was sealed with a high-five! In 2000, Argentine tango had found its way into Vera’s life. It became a passion as well as a mood and movement to paint. Throw travel into the mix, which comes with meeting people from other cultures and appreciating their unique beauty and the power of peoples’ eyes, and you have a recipe for pastels which burst with color and flavor!

Artist Statement

Pastels allow me to connect tactilely with my subjects. I work from photographs. If a photo touches me deeply, I feel compelled to capture that thread of emotion and carry it a step further into the vibrant energy of my pastels, which speak their own language from the heart. The tango music, classical or world music that plays in the background while I paint casts its own special magic. As a former speech therapist, I am delighted to go beyond words to a deeper place of beauty and joy and communicate through color.

Art Education

• Studied with pastel artist/teacher Gretchen Acharya, 2008, Boulder, Colorado. • Studied with pastel artist/teacher Chuck Ceraso , from Lafayette, Colorado (a student of Henry Henshe, master of color and light found in the art of the Impressionist painters). 2009. Arvada Center, Colorado. Ghost Ranch, Abiqui, NM.

Awards

• Exhibitor in May,2010; January & April,2011 at “Art at the Center “, Nederland, Colorado. • Exhibitor at “Kaleidoscope: New Artists Group Show” Boulder, Colorado. June, July, August 2011. • One-woman show at One World Café, Evergreen, Colorado, June-July-August 2011.