Vera Christine Heyer nee Seth

Painting and art have always been a very important part of my life. As a child in myearly schooldays, my family was posted to Nigeria.

The vibrant colours and culture of Africa and its traditional tribal art had inspired me throughout my life. I always used bold colours in my artwork up until today.

My further education took me to boarding school in the south of England, always travelling back to my family in Africa during the holidays.

After having completed my schooling, I went to Germany to improve on my German.

Thereafter marriage and three children, with all its constraint, did not allow much time to pursue my art interest. However, I always spent a lot of time painting and creating art with my children.

The time finally came, when I could concentrate on my own interests, art.

I joined a group of artists, instructed by Janos Bella, a well-known and accridited artist. These sessions were informative and very helpful. Mr Bella opened my eyes towards art, experimenting and finding out new and different styles using my vibrant colours, finding my line of art and love for impressionism. He always said, “you have not created your best painting yet”, meaning, never give up.

I teach acrylic painting for adults at the local High School, VHS in Backnang, and give children’s art classes during the holidays. This has proved very popular, with more children and adults joining in each term.

My highest achievement was to be chosen to exhibit my Totem Pole I had painted on driftwood at the Royal Academy of Art in London. It was a special year, too, as it happened to be their 250 th anniversary year, in 2018.