Artist’s Bio
Born in Texas, raised in New York, the Artist Paul Vermylen III lives and works from his Studio in Huntington Harbor on Long Island.
After a few attempts at college pursuing a degree in Writing, Paul spent most of his twenties flailing about the country writing poetry and stories and otherwise living a rather Kerouacian lifestyle.
On the precipice of his thirties, Paul discovered a passion for gemstones and jewelry design, and found his way to California to study gemology, design and fabrication at the world-renowned Gemological Institute of America. There Paul earned every degree the GIA offered and learned the ancient art of wax carving & lost wax casting. After a brief stint working for a sapphire company in Manhattan’s Diamond District, Paul started his own custom jewelry business From Gems to Jewelry and began creating one-of-a-kind sculptural designs hand-carved from wax and cast in gold and silver.
At the dawn of his forties, Paul underwent vein ablation surgery leading to a blood clot and subsequently the need for prescribed anticoagulants to thin his blood. Ignoring the danger of working with sharp hand tools whilst being on blood thinners, Paul eventually sawed into his finger and bled for three days.
Thinking that perhaps a safer form of art would be best, Paul drove to his local craft store, bought some canvas, some oil paint, and some brushes, and without having any idea what he was doing, began painting.
Now 43 and still painting, making jewelry, and writing; Paul is excited for the remainder of his forties which will include an Artist Residency at Chateau Orquevaux in France, a new collection of limited-edition wearable sculpture, and the publication of his first novel.
Ars Longa, Vita Brevis.
Artist’s Statement
As I look through my portfolio from my first paintings to my most recent, I am drawn not to the question of what I paint, but why I paint it, and how I paint it. I began painting as a need to further express the same ideas which I had previously expressed through writing and jewelry art. It is the visions either real or in my mind that drive me to create them, or rather recreate them in some permanently tangible manner. Again, looking at my paintings, I see them as a bridge between what is real and what is imagined, or perhaps between the wakeful state and the dream state. The style in which I paint, sometimes with brush, other times with knife, honestly reveals how I see the world around me. My paintings are my own visions. You are seeing through my eyes. - PV3
“Heaven’s Here”
18k Gold Wildflower Earrings w/ Diamonds - www.fromgemstojewelry.com