Penney-Rohner, Vicki

Vicki Penney-Rohner has lived in Hawai`i for 26 years and studied art in Europe, the U.S. mainland and Hawai`i. Her mediums of choice are soft pastels and oils. Vicki’s work has won numerous awards in juried shows both locally and nationally over the last two decades. She has been published in “The Pastel Journal”, invited to show at the prestigious Newington-Cropsy Gallery in New York, which is home of the largest collection of Hudson River Valley artists, and one of her landscapes was chosen for the permanent collection of the State of Hawai`i. Vicki teaches art in the public schools through the Hawai`i State-sponsored grant program, “Artists in the Schools”, at the Volcano Art Center and her home studio in Kailua-Kona.
“I find inspiration in everything around me, wherever I go. I like to have five or six pieces in progress at once and love a more impressionist approach but also can create a realistic effect in my work. To start, I block in the composition and establish the value range and shapes on each piece. Moving from one piece to another as they develop gives me good perspective. With my oils and pastels I strive to speak to our emotions using light, composition, and a layering of color to not just render an image, but express the mood of my subject. When I’m teaching, I emphasize the basics of good art such as values, composition, creating form with light and shadow, etc. so that my students can express themselves in a way that is satisfying to them.