She is a great admirer of 19th Century impressionists, whose works, as history would put it, were initially considered ‘outrageous’, but changed the course of art forever. As a freelance writer and photo hobbyist, Sylvia Van Velzer feels she has found her ‘artform’.
In her first collection, it is noticeable that her work bears some ‘influence’ of her favorite French artists, the likes of Renoir, Boudin, Monet, Cezanne and Degas. She acknowledges that she ‘re-lives’ their memory through her ‘artistic indulgence’ and as a photographer-digital artist, she feels ‘connected’ to their ‘bold’ style, radical artistic philosophy, love for their ‘subjects’ and definitely their use for high key color palettes and a variety of brushstrokes. But, thanks to technology, she has the ‘luxury’ of a camera to capture the often ‘transitory and fleeting visual experiences’ and turn them into ‘art’.
Sylvia’s ultimate dream has always been to become a photo-journalist. However, early on, inevitable events put her plans ‘on hold’ and instead she found herself raising a daughter, battling cancer, working as a model and eventually running her own modeling agency. Later she joined her husband in overseeing his corporate concerns where her creativity was expressed through business writing and by designing company collaterals.
In 1996, Sylvia retired as a businesswoman and revived her passion for writing and photography. At age 50, she realized she was ‘electronically disabled’ in the day and age of advance technology. So she took a course in Computer Science and received a certificate of completion which was one of her greatest joys which completely ‘revolutionized’ her creative life.
She is currently writing one children’s book dedicated to her granddaughter Keona and 2 Inspirational biographies catering to women.
Sylvia first visited
A Family Work Collaboration
They are a family of photo-hobbyists.
Herman Van Velzer:
Herman, who has traveled the world extensively, is a ‘natural’, with an eye for beauty. He is quick with his camera and has captured images that are unique, provocative and meaningful. Sylvia calls his work “classic”, rich with ‘history’, while Anna raves and defines them as “masterful”.
For her first project, Sylvia selected from Herman’s ‘archive’ of over 2000 digitally preserved slides, some of which are already ‘time discolored’ photos. She has been able to transform them into magnificent art. Many of these photographs were shot over 30 years ago from various parts of the globe. As an avid mountain climber/hiker, Herman has been to Mt Everest in
Anna J Matsui
Working with Sylvia is her daughter, Anna Matsui, who shares her ‘creative genes’. Anna studied Interior Designing in
Her style was once described as “ala Picasso” when she was first learning how to draw. Her
