Vulture Woman
The work of Rena Vela is informed by her experience in life. In discussing the painting of the woman turning into a vulture she emphasized that slowly the thoughts of the woman were becoming “vulture thoughts”. Rena says in her artist statement “My art is both truthful and secretive. I want to state truths but to do so in the form of fables and riddles.”
A summer art student trip to Italy inspired the work on Mary Magdalene (on the right). “Look at the submissive posture of the figure”, Rena said. ” There were many paintings in Italy with halos of gold so I wanted to use this in my work. I did the piece using bleach on black paper and later use of colored pencils and gold leaf.” Next to it is the early stage of a work featuring a woman climbing out of her own skin. In the sphere of “making a living” Rena is a dedicated art teacher working with children.
Rena shares her studio with Jill Carpenter. Here is their studio door:
Studio Door
Mary P Williams 
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