Veronica
“In the past seven years my work has begun to focus on honouring women and sharing their stories as our world would be lost without them. I am grateful to be a woman and to have raised two strong, creative, intelligent women and am grateful for all of the incredible women in my life.”
Veronica has been working as a Professional Artist for over two decades. Through her art, she honours and celebrates the stories of women everywhere. Her portfolio includes Heroes (52 women in 52 weeks), Nasty Women (100 portraits in 100 days), The Grandmothers (60 portraits in 2020) and Extraordinary Women (52 portraits in 2021). Veronica is currently working on Woman Work, a series which will demonstrate the vital impact of women’s work on society. She utilizes her artwork as an avenue for change, and credits where she is today to two inspiring women in her life, who when they were just girls, reminded her to pick up a paintbrush. Meet Veronica. This is her story.
P: Please introduce yourself!
V: My name is Veronica Funk and I have been working as a Professional Artist for 25 years. I attended Art + Design college in the mid-1980s, worked in business while practicing my craft and mentored with professional artists until I created my first series for exhibit.
P: Describe or define yourself in your own words.
V: I have always been an extremely sensitive person and ‘day-dreamer’ was often listed on my report cards in elementary school. Words and images have continued to be important to me both personally and in my creative profession.
P: What is your favourite thing about yourself?
V: There are two things that I love about myself…the first is my interest in learning and creativity so, in that regard, I continue to take university classes in Art History and Literature.
The second is my relationship with my daughters. I guess this connects with my love of learning as well as I continue to research healthy relationships and boundaries which has led to the focus of my work being on honouring females.
P: Tell us a story. Have you had an experience that has defined you or made you stronger?
V: As difficult as some situations have been in my life, I am grateful for the knowledge and understanding that I’ve received due to those challenges. A number of years ago I felt frustrated and discouraged by the art world in general. Pieces of mine were occasionally lost or damaged by galleries or I didn’t receive payment for sold artwork so I decided to stop painting. I sold and gifted my supplies and easels and chose to focus on business instead. Though I really enjoyed the people I had the privilege of working with, I found myself in a state of depression. My family history includes addictions, suicide and clinical depression and I was afraid that it was my lot in life but one day, as I broke down and cried at the dinner table, my daughters (both fairly young at the time) told me that I just needed to paint. It changed everything. I stopped painting for others and focused fully on the work that I wanted to do. I also changed the galleries that I dealt with, only working with those whom that I had a positive relationship. And I have never looked back or been happier.
P: What is one piece of advice you’d give your younger self?
V: Several years ago I actually wrote down ten things I would tell my younger self now and I think the greatest of these is:
“Don't hold too tightly to anything...letting go allows you to let other, greater things in. Honestly...you'll learn this to be true.”
The rest can be read here or in my little handbook for artists title Sacred Vessel.
P: What does being a woman mean to you?
V: In all of my years I thought we were heading into the direction of equality for all but have been disappointed of late to see some backsliding. In the past seven years my work has begun to focus on honouring women and sharing their stories as our world would be lost without them. Through the pandemic we have seen how women have been disproportionately affected by job loss and have had large burdens placed on them for the care and education of family members. I am grateful to be a woman and to have raised two strong, creative, intelligent women and am grateful for all of the incredible women in my life.
P: Who is one woman that inspires you? What would you say if they were here now
V: There are so many women I admire, but the original creative woman that I was introduced to was Georgia O’Keeffe. I was first introduced to her at Red Deer College in 1986 shortly after her passing. We had an assignment to paint flowers and bones and though I was unsure of it initially, once I saw Georgia's work I was smitten by the simplicity and fluidity of the forms and subject matter as well as the vibrant colours. I admired the fact that she always knew she wanted to be an artist (as I did) and was always outspoken and direct (unlike me - I was painfully shy as a child). She was tenacious, driven, and required much time alone, a kindred spirit.
In 2002 I had the great privilege of visiting the Carr, O'Keeffe, Kahlo exhibit in Vancouver and was struck once again by the beauty of her work and I watch the documentary which I had purchased on my visit over and over for inspiration. I know she wasn't perfect, which is probably why I love her even more, and I love the fact that her paintings were never signed by her because she felt that her work was recognizable as her own and also so that the viewer could hang them however they felt - being connected directly to her work through a collaboration of sorts. Even though less than a quarter of her paintings were flowers (I prefer the bones), she is best known for her flowers.