Hugh Verkerk on display February 12 through March 11, 2011
Born and raised in South Africa, Hugh Verkerk has been the quintessential artist since his earliest school days when he was often reprimanded for doodling on his schoolbooks rather than reading from them.
His earliest collection of artwork was religiously gathered in by his father, who dutifully picked up all the discarded doodlings of people, places and things and kept them in a shoebox, only to see the light of day several decades hence.
"I must say I was delighted" when my father dragged out his box of memorabilia in later years, and there were all my pencil drawings of all the various and sundry people and places that figured in my history and geography books.
After college, several years were spent wandering the countries of Europe, where Hugh traipsed his way from gallery to gallery, museum to museum, duly recording his images like any good tourist on a cheap camera and in his daily journal.
Visits to the Sistine Chapel, the Louvre, Florence, London and many other well known galleries and museums left an indelible mark on him; an urge to paint like the great masters, and to dabble with forms and shapes like Picasso. Flirting with oils for a while, Hugh eventually settled on acrylics, oils taking far too long for his passion of seeing a painting develop from a bare canvas.
A few evening art classes came and went and Hugh finally decided he needed to develop his own style of painting.
ARTIST STATEMENT: "I love the bright and vibrant colors of acrylics, I love the texture of the paint on my brush or on my fingers. I love the fact that my artwork is admired for their colors. I believe a painting should give its viewer a feeling of joy and delight."
A newcomer to the United States of America, Hugh has only recently begun to show his artwork at local shows and galleries.
Hugh paints only original art, and makes no copies of his work. Each work is an individual piece.