Vernon Reinike
An Artist’s View, Gulf Coast Impressions.
Community Art Gallery
Second Floor of City of Biloxi Center for Ceramics
ABOUT THE ARTIST/STATEMENT
Liberally self-taught, Vernon Reinike has an extensive knowledge of both the French and American painters of the 19th Century Impressionist movement. He has taught and lectured on his technique of using the color spectrum palette to many art enthusiasts on the Alabama and Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Born in Gulfport, Mississippi on April 26, 1942, Vernon was raised and educated in Long Beach, Mississippi. Vernon attended the University of Southern Mississippi, and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance with a Minor in Art, in 1965. After working 40+ years in the Aerospace and Shipbuilding Industries, Vernon retired as Director of Supply Chain Management at Northrop Grumman Ship Systems in 2008.
While at USM, Vernon studied Art under Dr. Charles Ambrose. He has also studied watercolor with John Gaddis and Doug Walton. His knowledge of plein air painting was acquired while a student of Charles Richards of New Orleans. Vernon works primarily in acrylic and oil to create impressionistic canvases of landscapes, still life, and portraits. His paintings represent the experience of the artist conveyed in a visual language that can be observed and emotionally experienced by the viewer.
In 1970, Reinike designed the Iberville monument honoring Pierre LeMoyne d’Iberville which now rests on the Civic Center grounds and is registered within the Art Inventories Catalog of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. His 1987 exhibit, “A Visit to Ocean Springs”, and 1989, “Shearwater Pottery”, are municipal treasures which will be lauded by future historians as a visual record of this city in the late 20th Century. Vernon R. Reinike has probably been the most prolific artist to recreate the landscape of Ocean Springs on canvas.
Vernon resides with his wife, Stephanie Chavez Reinike in Biloxi, Mississippi where he paints daily in his studio; he also has a studio in Mobile, Alabama. Vernon and Stephanie have two sons: Rob, an Investment Analyst and Ryan, an Actor and Graphic Artist.
From ‘Interesting People of Ocean Springs’, by Ray L. Bellande.
