Vera Novak Schwarzer

My name is Veronika—or Vera, as my beloved partner calls me. I am a painter, graphic artist, and illustrator from Prague who specializes in imaginative abstract paintings featuring natural and almost surrealistic elements combined with Art Nouveau patterns and human forms.My path to my own artistic practice has been winding, but always meaningful. After graduating from art school, I pursued further education and a career in the fields of human rights and labor law. However, I was always drawn back to my artistic roots. I was born into a family where creativity flourished even against the backdrop of the Sudetenland’s turbulent history. My great-grandfather, a World War I soldier and master tailor, told stories through his clothing designs and drawings of local people. My grandfather, an electrician and a man who nearly became a priest, captured light and shadow in a darkroom he built himself. Finally, even my mother—an urban planner and a devoted home caregiver—paints between the lines of life. Fortunately, despite wars and communism, their passion and talent have endured. My work is my legacy and my legacy. It is a dialogue between the past and modern expression, between the hand that creates and the soul that remembers.