Ann Marie Valencia
Following an exhibition of her watercolours on Reunion in 1980, Ann Marie VALENCIA settled there in 1981 and lived and worked on the island until end 2006 when she moved to Vendée, France.
After working in stained glass with the island's master glass artist Guy Lefèvre, Ann Marie VALENCIA set up her painting studio in Saint Gilles les Hauts in 1983 where she worked until 2006. Facing due West, this studio saw her work develop essentially towards the effects of the tropical light on the landscape and around the figures that were part of it. Her passion for the island's scenery led to regular public and private commissions for her original, atmospheric interpretation of light in the landscape or on specific plants of the island's forests. Watercolours, pastels and oil or acrylic paintings of her poetic vision of the island's daily life were also in great public demand.
As well as many solo exhibitions and group shows on Reunion, other islands in the Indian Ocean, in Paris and the UK, Ann Marie VALENCIA also worked on illustrations for the National Forestry Commmission, several books (see publications) and large murals in painting and in mosaic.
Between 2004 and 2006, Ann Marie VALENCIA worked in watercolours and pastels on a large series of works on the island's natural habitats for an exhibition at the Natural History Museum in Saint Denis in 2006 and publication of a book (see « publications »).
Since moving from Reunion to Vendée, Ann Marie has been preparing new series of works for future projects and also exhibits paintings locally. (see « exhibitions »)