An Isle of Wight nurse is set to exhibit her artistic work in the ‘Full Circle’ Exhibition Space at St. Mary’s Hospital in Newport.
Born in the sleepy town of Moravske Budejovice in the Czech Republic, Vlasta Turjanicova displayed artistic inclinations even as a young child. Starting with drawings and watercolours her work evolved to the oil paintings to which she is still dedicated to today.
The turning point in her artistic career came in 1999 when, as a student, Vlasta rented a room in the home of Jiri Netik, Czech’s most important living artistic carver. Being close to his work, which is now displayed in many European galleries and churches, inspired Vlasta to take her first steps in woodcarving. The earliest work in this exhibition – The Tree 1 – 2003 dates from this time.
Over time her unique and immediately identifiable style has gracefully evolved carving into the hard sections of walnut and pear tree wood which she works with. Vlasta extracts the natural beauty from the raw material, carving and sanding wood to create finished works of art which display the logical connection between wood, trees and nature. Her choice of theme aims to unfold visually striking pieces suggesting an idea which may be conventionally – or unconventionally – beautiful.
Guy Eades, Healing Arts Director at Isle of Wight NHS Trust says:
“The work in this exhibition, exhibited for the first time, has been gradually made over the past 10 years. Vlasta has continued her search for the beauty hidden in the wood on the Isle of Wight where she has lived with her family since 2005. In 2007 she took up the post of Staff Nurse on the Intensive Care Unit at St. Mary’s and has worked in several departments. In 2013 she has taken up the post of Community Nurse with the South Wight District Nurse Team based at Ventnor.”
The carvings and artwork exhibited are for sale. 25% of all sales will be donated by the artist to The District Nursing Service Charitable Fund. The exhibition has been organised by Healing Arts.
For enquiries about sales from this exhibition or future exhibition opportunities please contact:
Guy Eades on 01983-534253 or e-mail [email protected]. You can see further examples of Vlasta’s work on her website www.woodcarvingart.co.uk.
Hospital and community healthcare services provided by Isle of Wight NHS Trust are mainly commissioned and funded by Isle of Wight Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
