About the artist, Vivienne Andres

“I have spent most of my adult life painting and teaching art. Painting is my way of connecting to the natural world. The beauty I find in nature, in the countryside, around the ocean, in the high desert, all provide a context, a place to begin. My painting has become more abstract over the years. I am more interested in creating work that is more personally suggestive of a place, work that reflects my internal response to the environment around me.”

Working in watercolor, acrylic and mixed media on paper and canvas, Andres is fascinated with the inter-connectedness of form and color, and enjoys experimenting with complex overlays and surface detail. In the mixed media pieces she uses many materials including water-base media, inks, crayons, fabric, antique lace, canvas, paper and various painting surfaces.

With a B A on Art, an M A in Painting and a General Secondary teaching credential, she began teaching art in the San Jose Unified School District. A few years later, she spent a Post Graduate year in England,studying at the University of London's Courtauld Institute of Art History. Her focus was on 19th century English Watercolorists, which meant she spent many happy hours doing research in the great museums and private collections there. Returning to teaching, she had the summers free for painting and traveling, participating in local and national competitions and having gallery shows.

Selected solo shows include: Telesensory Systems, Palo Alto; Stanford Research Institute, Menlo Park; The DeSaisset Gallery, University of Santa Clara; Chico State University and San Jose State University. Selected juried shows include Contemporary Artisans Gallery, Crown Zellerbach Gallery and Bank of America Gallery, San Francisco; The Crocker Gallery, Sacramento; Stanford University and she participated in “All Our Lives, 500 Years of Making Art,” A Retrospective of Seven Monterey Bay Women Artists presented by the Monterey Bay Women's Caucus For Art at The Michelangelo Gallery in Santa Cruz.

Images of her paintings have been purchased by McGraw-Hill Book Company for cover designs. Her paintings are in private collections throughout the United States and overseas.

Paintings purchased by
McGraw Bill Book Company for cover designs