Member News - Living out a dream in tropical colors

Paula Owen Viola still pinches herself in disbelief. She is doing what she dreamed of as a child and as she says, "it blows my mind". Paula is painting on canvas and paper and people are not only buying her works, but are recognizing her talent and encouraging her to keep on painting.

Paula says her early years in sunny and tropical-colored Florida and California left their mark. The bright poster paints of her childhood instilled in her a fascination with color and the dream of becoming an artist.

Her desire to create and work with color found its expression in her first career as a world-renowned make-up artist. She worked with Annie Lennox, then of The Eurythmics, Culture Club and Duran-Duran on music videos and photo sessions. Assignments for Italian, British and French Vogue gave her the chance to exchange ideas and learn from the world's best photographers and art directors.

During her 11 years in Italy, where she lived with her husband and had two children, she decided to pursue her childhood dream and redirect her energies from make-up to the mediums of canvas and paper. She found that with two small children she couldn't keep up with the frenetic pace of the fashion world. It was time for a major change. In Milan, she began formal art studies and attended classes in Italian art history.

After moving to Madrid in 1997, she completed a three-year drawing and painting course with Fermin Ramirez. Professor Everett Rice revealed to her the richness of Spanish art history, and her private studies with distinguished artist Jose Lopez Colmenar were key to her bringing her dreams to fruition.

This April and May she had her first solo exhibitions in Las Rozas and Fresnadilla. In September the Anntra Gallery of Madrid represented her in Marbella at the International Contemporary Art Fair (MAC 21). And from November until the end of January 2004, her works on paper will be part of the prestigious Supermercado de Arte, which celebrates its 20 th year. Paula was personally invited to join this exhibit by one of its founders who saw a photo of her work and liked it so much he called her.

The Supermercado de Arte aims to bring art to the wider public. While not everyone will go to an art gallery, everybody goes to the supermarket. This is the thinking of the organizers of the Supermercado, which has now extended to 8 cities in Spain and Italy. The works on paper are priced from 79 to 229 euros. The date and location of The Supermercado de Arte is to be announced. For more information, check out the website: www.supermercart.com or call Paula Owen at 91-637-0876. back