Daniela Velez [SCH RA 2022]

First name: Daniela ;
Middle name:  ;
Last name: Velez ;

Member: Scholarship resident artist member ;
Begin: 2022 ;
End: n/a ;

Biography:

Education:
.B.F.A in Illustration from the School on Visual Arts in NYC-Grdauated with honors and a 3.98 GPA- Member of P.T.K-Fluent in English, Spanish, Italian; and French (Intermediate)-Pyramids of Giza: Ancient Egyptian Art and Archaeology, HarvardX (2022)

Awards:
–`House of the Seven Gables’ – Thesis Scholarship Award (2019).-Rhodes Family Award for outstanding achievement in Illustration(2020).-Society of Illustrators Scholarship(2021).-Featured in the June and December issues of the Hyperrealism Magazine. (2020-2021)-`People’s Choice Award’ – Museum of Contemporary Art, L.I (2022)-Best in Show 2022 – IAS fall exhibition- 1st Place, “Art in the park” 2022

Exhibitions:
-`Location as character’ – SVA Chelsea Gallery. (2019)-`Small Works’ – Abend Gallery, Colorado (2020)- `Sugar, Spice and not Playing Nice‘ – Gristle Art Gallery, Brooklyn NY (2020)-`Toy Box’ – Gristle Art Gallery NY (2020)-`Artist’s Choice’ – BJ Spoke Gallery, NY (2022)-`Paint the Great South Bay’ – Museum of contemporary art l.I, NY (2022)-Suburban Art League Fall member’s exhibit 2022 (invited artist) at Barnes Gallery-94th Grand National Exhibition, Salmagundi Club of New York-”Holiday Exhibition” Dacia Gallery, NYC (2022)-”Daniela Velez Small Works” Barnes Gallery, Garden City NY (2022)-SCNY Junior and Scholarship (2023)

Memberships:
–The American Artist Professional League.-Salmagundi Club-Art League of Nassau County-Patchogue Arts Council-Independent Art Society

BIO:
Art has been my way of meditating and expressing myself since I was a child.  It takes me to my own universe where I feel at peace with myself and my surroundings.  My inspiration comes from the old European masters and the Rococo era as well as from more contemporary art which introduced me to the art world and inspired me to be an artist, such as the Disney
Imagineers and animators.  A drawing by Leonardo Da Vinci, the Allegories by Francois Boucher or a model and sketches
for a Disneyworld ride, each equally inspire me and unleashes my creativity to create art that makes me happy.
My style is very different from the style of the masters that have guided me in my career as an artist, but they have helped me grow and understand their techniques so I can create my own, adapting it to my personality.

In my still lifes, I try to find the beauty that hides in common objects which we don’t usually give much attention to in our daily lives, but if we stop for a second and take the time to really observe, we can find an explosion of colors, stories that have not been told and a completely different world to which we can travel to escape reality for a second. Besides painting, I enjoy looking at nature, helping animals, learning languages and reading.