Painting Vintage Volume 2

There are some projects that feel like they arrive in your life with a purpose. For me, Painting Vintage is one of them.

This month, VEME Studios is releasing Painting Vintage Volume 2, and while holding the finished book in my hands feels surreal, the journey began long before the pages were printed.

It began with the hunt.

Anyone who knows me knows that I have always been fascinated by old photographs. Flea markets, antique stores, forgotten boxes, estate sales—there is something magical about discovering a photograph that has lived many lives before finding its way to me. Each image feels like a small treasure, carrying a story that may never be fully known.

I spend hours searching, collecting, and curating these images. Some make me laugh, some make me wonder, and some stop me in my tracks because they feel strangely familiar. Once I gather them, the process continues: selecting, reproducing, and finally painting on them. Giving them a second life.

What I love most is that there is no right way to interact with these photographs. A black-and-white image becomes an invitation. A starting point. A conversation between the past and the present.

That is what Painting Vintage has always been about.

When Melissa and I released the first volume, we weren't entirely sure how people would respond. But people kept coming back, telling the stories of how they played with them, gift them and wanted more.

Now, to be sharing Volume 2 with the world feels like a dream come true.

As an artist, I often spend so much time creating in solitude. There is a quiet beauty to that. But there is an entirely different kind of joy that comes from sharing a creative process with others and seeing where they take it. Every person brings their own story, imagination, memories, and perspective to the page.

For me, that is the real artwork.

This second volume is filled with new photographs, new characters, and new possibilities. It is an invitation to slow down, to play, to wonder, and to remember that creativity does not belong only to artists—it belongs to everyone.

I hope this book inspires you to pick up a paintbrush, a pair of scissors, a pencil, or whatever medium calls to you. I hope it reminds you that there is beauty in the process and that sometimes the smallest treasures can lead to the most meaningful journeys.

Thank you to everyone who supported the first edition and to those joining us for the first time. Your enthusiasm is what allows projects like this to continue growing.

And to all the unknown people in these photographs, thank you for finding your way to us.

With love,

Verona