Mariana Ring of Fire 1 Artwork

Award-winning artist Oenone Hammersley is best known for her rainforest and wildlife paintings. She has been exhibiting regularly since 1980, with shows in the U.S.A, Europe, Africa and Australia. Oenone spent three years living in Tanzania painting African wildlife, In Greece she used Greek mythological figures to illustrate her paintings, working both in oil on canvas and watercolour and gouache on paper. Oenone spent two years living in Australia and traveled to Papua New guinea to paint the birds of paradise prior to her exhibition on the birds and frogs of Australia and P.N.G. After returning to the United States in 2008, Oenone began working on a collection of semi-abstract oils on canvas, which have won awards both in Washington DC and Florida. These paintings are unique in style and retain the intense colour of her previous work. The forgrounds of the paintings are realistic, gradually becoming abstracted towards the background. Oenone’s recent work focuses on our natural resources, with particular interest in water and trees, her paintings reveal patterns created by the root structure of trees and the light reflecting on water. Deriving inspiration from her extensive travels to include, expeditions to Southeast Asia, India, Africa and Latin America, Oenone is committed to furthering the cause of conservation through her work and involvement with organizations such as the World Land Trust and Fauna and Flora International. Colour and light are used to emphasize the vanishing world of wilderness that implores us to take notice, appreciate the rare and raw beauty about us, and allow our imagination to roam about the abstract compositions symbolizing the unsettled and unsettling world in which man alters nature. Oenone was born in England in 1957 and studied theatre design at Wimbledon College of Art followed by printmaking at the City Literary Institute in London. She is a member of Artists for Conservation, the National Association of Women Artists and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. Oenone is married and lives in Virginia U.S.A.