North Little Rock Artist Virmarie DePoyster Featured in Hot Springs

GALLERY 726 FEATURES PASTELS OF VIRMARIE DEPOYSTER IN MARCH
Gallery 726 at 726 Central Avenue in downtown Hot Springs will feature the artwork of Virmarie DePoyster during the month of March, beginning with Gallery Walk on Friday, March 5. As a child, Virmarie absorbed the brilliant colors of Puerto Rico where she was born. This heritage dominates her pastels.

Her love for art began at a very young age. In high school she painted theater backdrops and in college her love for fabrics and texture led her to get a degree in Design and Merchandising.
In 1994, she began painting at the Arkansas Art Center where her teachers supported her unique style.

Today, this busy young woman -- mother of two --, bookkeeper, and committed artist describes her passion for the pastel medium: “When I paint with pastel, I am reminded that even though life is fragile, it’s lovely! It is in the dance, between my hand, paper and pigment, where I find my heart. Long conversations transpire at the easel, about love, death, life and how they all begin in chaos. As I create something from nothing, I strive to show the viewer, how nothing plus someone equals something. I create a mood with color. Even though my use of the medium is a little unique, the vibrant colors I achieve in my pieces calm my fears and I am encouraged to follow my instincts.”

In 2009, Virmarie DePoyster served as a Visiting Artist in The Baum Gallery located at the University of Central Arkansas speaking about the Latino influences in her work in connection with the gallery’s featured exhibit of contemporary Latino art: Cardinal Points/Puntos Cardinales. DePoyster also teaches pastel at the Satori School for Creative Arts in downtown Argenta in North Little Rock. Additionally, her piece All the Difference in the World was awarded Honorable Mention at the 2009 Winthrop Rockefeller Institute’s Arts in the Air. Furthermore, her painting Diagnosis=Ovarian Cancer was awarded Honorable Mention at the 50th Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Art Center and is featured in the 2009 CARTI Calendar, “The Art of Survival.”

Exhibiting with DePoyster are other visual artists Shirley Anderson, Barbara Seibel, Sue Shields, Caryl Joy Young, Susan Hurst, Jim Oberst, Gary Weeter and Emily Wood. Also showing their works are Ken Vonk, wood turner; Marlene Gremillion, jewelry designer; Michael and Charles Riley, glass artists and recently featured potter in the January issue of AY Magazine, Janet Donnangelo.

Gallery 726 is located in the heart of Hot Springs’ historic district. The gallery is open Tuesday -Saturday from 10 am to 5 pm and is staffed with knowledgeable artists. For more information about the gallery, call: 501-624-7726, email to: thegallery@gallery726.com or log-on to the gallery website: www.gallery726.com.