About Avianne - My Story

Artist Biography

Avianne was born in 1977 and grew up in South Africa during the Apartheid era. Those were troubling and complicated times for her. She distinctly remembers making up her mind about wanting to follow a career in the arts industry at age 16. After obtaining her formal education at the University of Pretoria in 2000, she pursued her passion to become a full time professional artist. Determined and hard-working, she progressively became the professional, award-winning, widely recognized fine artist, fine art educator and creative entrepreneur she set her mind to becoming. In 2006 she emigrated to the United States and ended up in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2019, she moved with her American family to Meridian, Idaho. Avianne's formal education consists of a BA (Fine Art) degree from the University in Pretoria, South Africa and an M(Ed) - Curriculum, Instruction, and Innovation, from the Northwest Nazarene University (NNU) in Nampa, Idaho. Discerning collectors all over the world are the satisfied owners of numerous paintings and conceptual art pieces she has created over the span of her decades long career. She owns an art academy in Boise, Idaho, and teaches Classical Fine Art skills to students of all ages and skill levels.

A hallmark of Avianne's career is her uncanny ability to create almost anything from anything. Her visionary and innovative adaptability as an artist stems from necessity - it was not easy to make a living as a full time artist in a volatile and unstable post-Apartheid South Africa. Avianne is not limited by style, subject, or medium when it comes to truly being creative, authentic, and innovative as a fine artist.

Artist's Statement

Georgia O'Keeffe had a passion for making seemingly insignificant elements in nature as big as possible so people could not ignore their beauty. Michelangelo Buonarroti believed passionately in artists being divine, multi-skilled communicators and perpetual students of excellence. Somewhere in between their worlds is a portal to mine. I coined Etherealism (an ever-evolving manifesto) to explain my style and choice of subjects: the real and the unreal world, captured as ever-evolving, yet static motion in light, depicted in a free-fall - a style and voice that cannot quite be placed in a box. The world is often dark, unpredictable, and tumultuous. At the same time the world is beautiful, alive, and captivating. I aim to express my deepest moments of wonder and contemplation alongside my swirling thoughts and tumultuous way of being ever at odds with the deeper things I value and love.

My self-awareness is piercing to me, so much so that at times I find myself in desperate need of solitude in order to process everything I absorb around and inside myself. I seldom know what form the visible and invisible world will take and I have learned over the years to allow my discomfort, curiosity, and rich inner-life to lead the way. As a person who both thinks and feels deeply, I believe being both uncomfortable and inspired by my human existence and my relationship to my earth home, are conditions this artist should make herself home in. My journey is often a mixture of being adventurous, illusive, and infallible. I embrace this existential mystery and remain open-ended in my desire for artistic solace and aesthetic reverie.

Over the course of the last few years, I started fusing my artistic diversity into more of a coherent artistic approach. Currently I am pursuing a whole new body of work, that will ultimately culminate into a new portfolio of work for me altogether. Up to recently, I have been a a multi-media artist: resin-based art, oil, acrylic, and multi-media paintings and drawings, all weaving together my deep rooted academic and commercial fine art skills, knowledge and vast array of media on an ever more sophisticated level.

Currently, I am working my way painstakingly towards becoming predominantly an oil-painter as the longevity, luster, and sophistication of oil paint fit better with my longterm goal of building a lasting legacy as a fine artist. I hold the personal belief that artists are the purveyors of restoration for unspoken pain in our world as well as conduits for our Creator: a sort of bridge between many worlds, both lost and found. This aforementioned desire to build a lasting legacy around these views is authentic and elementary to my creative passion and propels my artistry ever forward.

My strong affinity for animals, the human condition, and the natural world have always and will always inform my artistic voice and process. Percentages of all my income are donated to carefully vetted wildlife conservation and humanitarian rescue efforts globally.

Resumé

This is a summarized version of Avianne’s accomplishments and ventures. For a more extensive list and more detailed descriptions of Avianne’s accomplishments, and information dating further back, you can contact Avianne directly at Info@AvianneInternational.com

ART GALLERIES - AFFILIATIONS, EXHIBITIONS, AND REPRESENTATION

2018 - Ongoing: Avianne International Gallery of Fine Art, California (now Idaho) - International.
2024 - Ongoing: KBM Art Gallery, Hollywood - International.
2024 - Ongoing: Hummingbird and Dragonfly Gallery, Los Angeles - International.
2025: Las Laguna Art Gallery, Laguna Beach - National.
2024 - 2025: Poetic Tiger Gallery, Idaho - International.
2021 - 2023, SAATCHI online - UK - International.
2022 - 2023: Water's Edge Gallery, Garden City, Idaho.
2023: Carr Gallery, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
2023: Jean B. King Gallery, at the Herrett Museum of Arts and Science, Twin Falls, Idaho.
2022: Art Source Gallery, Boise, Idaho.
2021: Initial Point Gallery, Meridian, Idaho.
2021: Candy Jar Gallery, Blackfoot, Idaho.
1999-2018: Several prestigious art galleries in Idaho, California and South Africa, including the Harrington Gallery in California and the Pretoria Art Museum in South Africa.

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

2023 - currently: Mastery Program, Milan Art Institute, International.
2022: M(Ed), Curriculum, Instruction and Innovation, Northwest Nazarene University, Idaho.
2021-2022: Dean’s List - Spring and Fall - Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho (4.0 GPA).
2019: Studio Practice Course under Ozell Hudson jr., Avianne Academy of Arts, California.
2016: Acrylic Pouring Medium Course, Linda Ryan Arts, California.
2000: BA (FA), Honors, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

RESEARCH AND ACADEMIC PAPERS

2022: Mixed Methods Research Proposal - The Cognitive-Developmental Impacts of Advanced Extracurricular Art Classes for Children during Early Childhood Education - Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho.
2015: Etherealism Manifesto, © 2015 (all rights reserved), Avianne (all rights reserved), San Jose, California.
2003: The Use and Meaning of Fire in the Work of Sandile Zulu - University of South Africa (UNISA).
2002: The Death of Innocence in South African Art and Culture - University of South Africa (UNISA).
2000: Neo-Modernism - Back to the Future of the Absolute - University of Pretoria, South Africa.
2000: The Value of Shock in Contemporary South African Art - University of Pretoria, South Africa.

SELECTED SOLO AND GROUP EXHIBITIONS (JURIED / CURATED ONLY)

2025-ongoing: Several Group Exhibitions - KBM Art Gallery - Hollywood, International (online).
2025-ongoing: Several Group Exhibitions - Hummingbird and Dragonfly Gallery - Los Angeles, International (online).
2025: Women in Art - group exhibition - Las Laguna Art Gallery - Laguna Beach, California, National (online).
2019-ongoing: Several Group and Solo Exhibitions - International Gallery of Fine Art, International (currently online, previously in person).
2024-2025: Several Group Exhibitions - Poetic Tiger Gallery, International, Idaho (in person and online).
2023, September-October: "Featured Artists" - group exhibition - Water's Edge Gallery, Garden City, Idaho.
2023, July: "Abundance" - solo exhibition - Water's Edge Gallery, Garden City, Idaho.
2023, June - September: "Elemental Traveling Exhibition" - small group exhibition - Carr Gallery, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
2023, February - March: "Elemental Traveling Exhibition" - small group exhibition - Jean B. King Gallery, Twin Falls, Idaho.
2023, January - February: "Featured Artists" - group exhibition - Water's Edge Gallery, Garden City, Idaho.
2022, October - November: "Opus" - group exhibition - Water's Edge Gallery, Garden City, Idaho.
2022, August - September: "Earthbound" - solo exhibition - International Gallery of Fine Art, Boise, Idaho.
2022, July - August: "Annual Juried Group Exhibit" - small group exhibition - Art Source Gallery, Boise, Idaho.
2021, September: "Plein Air Painters of Idaho Exhibit" - small group exhibit - Initial Point gallery, meridian, Idaho.
2021: September - October: "Annual Juried exhibition" - small group exhibit - Candy Jar Gallery, Blackfoot, Idaho.
2020 - further back: Several juried art exhibitions (group and solo) in Idaho, California and South Africa, including in the Harrington Gallery in California and the Pretoria Art Museum in South Africa.

SELECTED AWARDS

2024: Idaho Ambassador's Award, American Portrait Society, National.
2017: Painting, Second Place, Faaya Diamonds Inc., International online contest.
2013: Painting, City of Livermore Arts Commission Award for Artistic Excellence, San Francisco Bay Area, California.
2013: Painting, Best of Acrylics Award, Livermore Art Association, San Francisco Bay Area, California.
2013: Painting, People's Choice Award, Livermore Art Association, San Francisco Bay Area, California.
2012: Painting, Best Fine Art Muralist, Food Network Reality Television, LA Central Studios, Los Angeles, California.
2012: Painting: Best of Show, Bothwell Arts Center, San Francisco Bay Area, California. Judge: Bill Scala (famous Contemporary Surrealist).
2012: Painting, Third Place Acrylics, Livermore Art Association, San Francisco Bay Area, California.
2010: Painting, US Bank Prestige Award, US Bank, San Francisco Bay Area, California.
2010: Painting, Merit Award, US Bank, San Francisco Bay Area, California.
2009 - further back: several awards (national and regional) in California and South Africa.

WORK IN SELECTED INTERNATIONAL FINE ART COLLECTIONS

2025 - Pridgen Fine Art Collection.
2024 - Kemp Fine Art Collection.
2021 - ongoing: Bruno Family Art Collection.
2014 - ongoing: Ko Family International Fine Art Collection.
2021 - 2022: Gardiner International Fine Art Collection.
2012 - 2019: Nancy Marco Collection.
2019: Kathleen Stear Fine Art Collection.
2019: Raymond Wan Family Collection.
2017: Philip Family Art and Artifacts Collection.
2014: Gray Fine Art and Photography Collection.
2009-2013: Belinda Petersen Fine Art Collection.
2005-2013: H.D.J. Wilson International Art Collection.
2012: Halepete International Fine Art Collection.
2012: Joslin Family Art Collection.
2012: Buckley Collection.
2011: Daniel & Dianne Shellooe Collection.
2010 - further back: several international fine art collections (private and corporate)

SELECTED COMMISSIONS / HIGH PROFILE PROJECTS

2020 - ongoing: Multiple Private Commissions, Idaho, International.
2010 - 2019: Multiple Private Commissions, California, International.
2012: Commissioned Public Art work at East Avenue Middle School, Livermore, California.
2004 - 2006: Fine Artist, Oil paintings: marketed by Marie Vermeulen-Breedt, Pretoria, South Africa.
2005: Commissioned Fine Artist for H.D.J. Wilson International Art Collection, Pretoria, South Africa.
2005: Project Manager, Fine Artist for the suites of movie-stars like Leonardo DiCaprio: Michelangelo Towers, Sandton, South Africa for Laetitia Viljoen Interiors.
2004 - further back: several international fine art collections (private and corporate).

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS, PODCAST, RADIO & TELEVISION APPEARANCES

2025: Mention of "Art of Lore" Exhibition at Poetic Tiger Gallery in Create Magazine, International.
2023: KTV Idaho Channel 6, News Interview by Isaiah Sharp, Idaho.
2023: Magic Valley Times Newspaper Article by Brayden Weeks, Idaho.
2023: Be Local, Promotional Article, Eagle and Meridian, Idaho.
2022: Boise Weekly, Article by Alana Ulenhof, Boise, Idaho.
2021: Idaho Business Development, Article by Catie Clark, Idaho.
2021: KTV Idaho Channel 6, News Interview by Natasha Williams, Idaho.
2018-2019: Radio Show Host, “Your Creative Force” by Avianne, Global Voice Radio.
2018: Podcast Interview by American author Denise Joy Thomson, The Coach Alliance and Global Voice Radio.
2011-2018: Several promotional events and publications of the Bankhead Theater Gallery, the Livermore Arts Association, and the Bothwell Arts Center, California.
2010-2015: Multiple publications: The Independent, California (magazine and Newspaper).
2014: Ruby Hills Living, Interview Article, Pleasanton, California.
2013: Featured in International Reality Show “Sugar Dome” on Food Network & HGTV.
2009: San Jose Community Television (public art show), interview.
2008 - further back: several publications in magazines, newspapers, television appearances, and multiple interviews (regional, national, and international) in California and South Africa.

PROFESSIONAL INDUSTRY AFFILIATIONS

2025 - ongoing: American Portrait Society, USA.
2023 - 2024: Colored Pencil Society of America, Chapter 225, Boise, Idaho.
2022 - ongoing: Carr Gallery, Idaho Falls, Idaho.
2022 - ongoing: Water's Edge Gallery, Garden City, Idaho.
2022 - ongoing: Jean B. King Gallery, College of Southern Idaho, Twin Falls, Idaho.
2021 - ongoing: Northwest Nazarene University, Nampa, Idaho.
2021 - ongoing: Colored Pencil Society of America, National, USA.
2021 - ongoing: National Watercolor Society, National, USA.
2021: Bingham Arts Council, Blackfoot, Idaho.
2019 - further back: several professional organizations in California and South Africa

CHARITY RELATED AFFILIATIONS

2023 - ongoing: Operation Underground Railroad, USA.
2023 - ongoing: Noah's Arks Rescue, South Carolina.
2022 - ongoing: ARC of Idaho, USA.
2021 - ongoing: Avianne International Global Impact Initiative: Earth Sirens, Idaho.
2021 - ongoing: Seashepherd, Virginia.
2021 - ongoing: Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center, Colorado.
2020: Ruth Melichar Bird Center, Idaho.
2019 - further back: several non-profit organizations in California and South Africa.

REFERENCES (available upon request)