Missy Vanover loves painting Florida’s coastlines, marshes, colorful garden landscapes, and vivid abstracts. She enjoys the constant interaction of land, sea and sky, and the ever-changing palette of the ocean and marshes nearby. She paints with a combination of brush and palette knife working in both oil and acrylic. With oils, she often paints in thick impasto layers, creating thick texture in her paintings. With acrylic, she enjoys creating interesting patterns and brush strokes.
Originally from North Carolina’s Piedmont, known for its furniture and textile industries, she had an early appreciation for beautiful homes, antiques, and interesting Interior Design. Her grandparent’s home was also nearby on several acres of rolling hills, with every flower and tree imaginable. Vibrant and captivating, the gardens made indelible impressions on her as a child, creating a deep love of nature and its magnificent range of colors.
Upon moving to Atlanta in her teens, she was quickly drawn to Atlanta’s extraordinary residential architecture, Interior Design resources, and downtown Market Centers. She entered the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art in Athens to study the architectural aspects of Interior Design. The program’s emphasis aside from drafting, included hand-drawn architectural renderings employing pen and ink in a wide variety of patterns and textures, a precursor to many of the techniques she uses today.
Drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, fabric design, and particularly the Art History classes, introduced her to a fascination with the artists of the 19th and 20th century. The vivid colors and amazing combinations of patterns and textures of the Impressionists, Post- impressionists, Pointillists, Fauves, and early Modern painters led her to further studies in Art History. Her Favorites included Matisse, Van Gogh, Bonnard, Monet, Kandinsky, Seurat, Vuillard, Cross, Renoir, Picasso, Chagall, and Frieseke. Following graduation, she returned to Atlanta to live in Buckhead’s design district as a residential interior designer, while occasionally painting both canvases and incorporating decorative techniques in Interiors.
Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is home to her family now. Today she continues to enjoy both painting and Interior Design, as well as photography, gardening, biking, and her family’s many golf and sporting activities. Vanover's work is most strongly influenced by the beaches and marshes surrounding their north Florida barrier island, as well as family homes in tropical southern Florida. Her work has been seen in many fine galleries in Coastal Georgia and throughout Florida.
Biography
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, Lamar Dodd School of Art, University of Georgia, Athens
Interior Designer, Atlanta Chapter, ADAC, Allied ASID, ISID
Dunwoody Decorator Holiday Houses.
Designer and Merchandiser in Jacksonville's Interiors Market, Accent Your Home, and others.
Painting Exhibitions
Le Poteger, St Johns Avenue, Avondale 2003
North Beach Gallery, Plantation Shoppes, Amelia Island, Florida 2003
Interiors Market and Accent Your Home, Jacksonville, Florida 2003-2006
Stellers Gallery, Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 2003-2007
Ponte Vedra Inn and Club Gallery, 2005-2006
Jacksonville Art Walk, 2005
Downtown Jacksonville Bank Building 2005
Jacksonville Symphony Designer Showhouse, Ortega Model, 2005
Designs for Real Living, Jacksonville Beach, 2005
Women’s Center Gala, Times Union Center for the Performing Arts, Jacksonville, Fl. 2005
Beaches Art Walk, Stellers Gallery, Ponte Vedra Beach, 2005
Jacksonville Museum of Modern Art, and Stellers “Best of Jacksonville” Gala 2005
Stellers Gallery, Fleming Island, Florida 2004-2006
First Anniversary Group Show, Stellers, Fleming Island, Florida 2005
American Cancer Society Gala, Featured Artist, Stellers, Fleming Island, Florida 2005
Meghan Candler Gallery, Village Shoppes, Indian River Shores, Florida 2005- 2018
Gallery at Avalon Island, Orlando, Florida “ Artist Registry Juried Selection” 2008
Ponte Vedra Inn and Club, Golf Club, 2008-2009
The Left Bank Art Gallery, St. Simons Island, Georgia 2007-2014
Gardens, Marshes and Estuaries of Georgia’s Coastal Isles, Left Bank Art Gallery 2007
Expressions in Color, Let Bank Art Gallery 2007
Summertime and the Livin is Easy, Left Bank Art Gallery 2007
Reflections along the Shore, Left Bank Art Gallery 2007
Salon d’Automne, Left Bank Art Gallery, 2007
The Little Picture show, Left Bank Art Gallery 2007
The Magic of Springtime, Left Bank Art Gallery 2008
Spring Enchantment, Left Bank Art Gallery 2013
Art of the World, Left Bank Art Gallery 2013
Sea Island Airport, Left Bank Art Gallery, 2014
The Cloister, Sea Island, Mother’s Day Parade of the Arts, 2007
The Cloister, Sea Island, Easter Parade of the Arts, 2007
Corse Gallery and Atelier, Ortega, Jacksonville, 2012-2013
Shaffer Gallery, St Augustine, Florida. 2014-2015
First Street Gallery, Atlantic Beach, Florida. 2017-2018
Meghan Candler Gallery, Indian River Shores-Vero Beach 2005-2018
Art Salon, Charlotte, North Carolina, October 2018
Coastal Elements, Sawgrass Village, Ponte Vedra Beach, 2020-2021
Ponte Vedra Cultural Center, JAME Exhibition, 2020
Village Arts, Sawgrass Village, Ponte Vedra Beach, 2016-2023