About the artist

Hello, I'm Veronika

Portrait of watercolour artist Veronika Vaness by the water in Vancouver
Veronika Vaness

I'm a watercolour artist based in Vancouver, painting the everyday and the far-away — heritage canneries along the coast, the working harbour, alpine mornings, and the small, quiet scenes that ask to be remembered.

Most pieces begin outdoors, with a brush, a little water, and whatever the light is doing that day. I love that watercolour can't be fully controlled. It pools and bleeds and surprises you — the way a real moment does. My work is less about getting every detail exact and more about holding onto the feeling of a place.

I tend to return to water: the tide going out under an old building, cranes standing over a still harbour, a swing waiting beneath a tree. There's a stillness in those in-between moments I like to chase.

Whether you're here to look, to take a piece home, or to commission a place that matters to you, I'm so glad you came. Take your time.

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On the road

From the BC coast to the places I wander

Veronika looking out over the Acropolis in Athens, Greece
Gathering quiet moments to paint — here, a morning with the Acropolis in Athens.

A finished framed watercolour of a heritage cannery, shown on an easel beside the real building it depicts
A finished piece beside the place that inspired it

Painting on location

Made where the moment happens

Whenever I can, I paint outdoors — setting up beside the building, the shoreline, or the view itself. Working from life keeps the colour honest and the feeling true.

Then, back in the studio, each piece is finished by hand on cotton paper, ready to frame.

In the studio

How a painting comes together

First

On location

I start with the place itself — light, weather, the feel of the air — and quick studies or photographs.

Then

First washes

Loose, wet layers set the mood and the light before any detail. This is where the atmosphere lives.

Next

Building form

Shapes and shadows come forward gradually, keeping the freshness of those first washes.

Finally

The quiet details

A few deliberate marks — a piling, a branch, a figure — to carry the story home.

Let's make something

Commission a place you love

Tell me about the spot that means something to you, and I'll paint it in watercolour.

Start a commission