Art by Violet Onderwater

"You know that feeling, when you are climbing up a mountain pass, surrounded by trees and focused on trying to make it up, and then you reach the top and there is a clearing in the forest and you see an endless horizon. That feeling where everything slips away and you are one with infinite potential, transported into a place of pure heart space and peace and oneness with what’s in front of you. That is the way I feel when I am painting, daily life slips away and I feel one with infinite potential, and that is what I aim to represent in my works.

"I work with themes that are very nature based, but adding an extra element, an extra layer of reality that cannot be seen. I do this by painting the spirit of something or by using symbology within my painting. An example of this is I often paint the moon phases in my work as a representation of time passing or of eternity. Aristotle describes it perfectly in this quote: 'The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.' "

Love Never Dies

The story and theme of this piece is exactly in the title, that no matter what happens, when love is born it can never die. I represented this by including a lot of symbology in this piece, for example the symbol of eternity, the “8” in the middle, connecting the two wolf spirits. The moon phases represent the passing of time, the birds representing freedom but also holding the space, and all the elements of air, water, fire and earth to represent a wholeness of nature.

I painted this piece on a solo journey in my bus down the coast of Oregon and California. The magic of the rugged coastline and raw beauty heavily inspired me whilst painting this piece.

Embrace The Journey

I live painted this piece in the forests of the Sierra Mountains in Northern California, by Donner Pass, at a festival. The owl, with its acute vision in the dark, is a symbol of great awareness and ability to see even in dark moments. It is also a symbol of wisdom and transformation. The moon phases represent the passing of time. Together they symbolize a journey with all its ups and downs. This painting encourages embracing it all, it is all part of the journey.

Howl True

This piece is aimed to inspire us all to connect with our inner wild self and to be true to ourselves and others, to “howl true."

Violet Onderwater is a painter born in London and living the earlier years of her life between England and The Netherlands. When she turned 18 however she started traveling, eventually settling in Northern California. From traveling all edges of the world, Violet has been collecting inspiration for her work from her experiences, the lands, and the influential characters on her path. She aspires to join in the collective transformation of the world with her paintings, by aiming to inspire kindness and purity through her themes, inspiring a journey, which is inner or outer, and shining healing out through her work

Violet has been painting as far back as she can remember. Starting at the art academy ArtEZ in Arnhem, The Netherlands and then continuing to The Gerrit Rietveld Academie, academy for fine arts and design in Amsterdam, Netherlands. She has shown her work at various galleries, events and fundraisers across the world and when she came to America she started live painting at various music festivals as well.

Now Violet resides in Northern California where she has her studio, but still travels across America for various live painting events, collaborative projects and art exhibits across the west coast.

Stone Pacific

a zine of unconventional art and writing from the PNW and beyond

Art by Violet Onderwater