Virmarie DePoyster

Writers use words to set a mood, describe and illustrate. As a visual artist, color is my silent narrative. Without words, the slightest color I observe holds information, molds my human experience and translates into my work. Daily, I am intrigued by the black red in the coffee beans that starts my morning, the hot pink lines in my lettuce leaves, and the brilliant blue and gold in my daughter’s eyes as I tell her goodnight. Rather than seeing the dominant colors in life, it’s the hint of bold colors that catch my eye, heighten my awareness, enlarging my vision and expanding my heart. Small amounts of green and purple in storm clouds speak of loss and abandonment, while bits of pink and orange in a sunset quietly whisper that happiness is a choice. Like a great story, color draws me into my surroundings, makes me linger and listen to my inner voice. – Virmarie DePoyster

Virmarie DePoyster’s color-rich and mixed media works that have been included in multiple exhibitions. In 2015, DePoyster was featured in a solo exhibition at the Tri-Mission Gallery in the U.S. Embassy in Rome entitled Revelation: New Works by Virmarie DePoyster. Additional solo exhibits include: Color, An Artist’s Tale: Paintings by Virmarie DePoyster at the Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas (2014); Color: Irresistable Delight at the South Arkansas Arts Center in El Dorado, Arkansas (2012); and My Life, My Landscape at the Guachoya Cultural Arts Center in Lake Village, Arkansas (2011). DePoyster’s work has also been included in many group exhibitions, including: Viva La Mujer, the Latino Art Project in North Little Rock, Arkansas (2016); Batesville Area Arts Council National Juried Exhibition, Batesville, AR (2015); Provocative Shapes, Boswell-Mourot Fine Art Gallery, Little Rock, AR (2014); the Arkansas Pastel Society 5th National Exhibition at the Butler Center for Arkansas Studies, Little Rock, AR (2013); Familiar Places, Unknown Destinations, Boswell-Mourot Fine Art Gallery, Little Rock, AR (2013); Museum School Faculty: Past and Present, 50th Anniversary, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR (2012); Small Works on Paper 2006-2011 Retrospective, Arkansas Arts Council (2012); Mid-America Juried Arts Exhibition, Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, Cape Girardeau, MO (2011); 17th Annual Regional Art Exhibition, Art Center of the Ozarks, Springdale, AR (2011); 50th Annual Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, AR (2007); and others.

DePoyster moved to the United Sates when she was fifteen from Puerto Rico. She attended Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. She currently teaches courses in pastel and drawing at the Arkansas Arts Center Museum School and through the Arkansas Arts Council’s Artists in Education program.