Roberto Vengoechea was born and raised in Colombia, South America, of Indian and Spanish-Basque ancestry. He immigrated to America as a young man, learning his craft while living in Florida. In Florida he met his wife, June (from Scotland) and together they relocated to Black Mountain, North Carolina to be closer to the unique arts and crafts scene.
Roberto’s designs feature sophisticated, contemporary fine jewelery consisting of unique square-shank rings, cast in precious metals using fine gemstones and diamonds. His creations have often been referred to as “Dali-esque”, referencing Salvador Dali.
After 25 years of offering fine jewelry at Visions of Creation Gallery in Black Mountain, NC, Roberto and June closed the doors of their brick and mortar gallery on Cherry Street in 2022. Though they have retired from the business of operating a gallery, Roberto continues to create custom-made, fine art jewelry for Art in Bloom Gallery. He also specializes in designing commissioned jewelry upon request.
Artist’s Statement
One compliment I won’t forget was a few years after we moved here from Florida. A reporter penned an article about my work and titled it “Dr. Seuss meets Salvador Dali” and further described my work in the article. To this day, we still use this catch phrase as part of our advertising.
Jump forward 20 years – my work is very geometric, futuristic and out-of- the-box, words used by many visitors. When visitors come into our gallery and ‘drool’ over the jewelry, I now tell them that I came here from the 25th Century in a time machine and can’t get back.
Inside my imagination, my respect and admiration belongs to Antonio Gaudi and Salvador Dali. I travel in parallel lines. I see through the same window but with a different vision creating pieces that are outside the box. This is why I named my business “Visions of Creation.” Those are the visions I see in the Creation. We recently celebrated 20 business years at our Gallery here in Black Mountain, NC. We created a photo collage of work from our opening spanning 30 years. When we first viewed the collage, we realized that those early pieces are as timeless then as they are now. You cannot tell the difference between the progression of time.
I consider my designs to be Avant-Garde – they defy traditional forms and genres, yet are practical in their form and fit. Like Gaudi, I like to fuse organic with architectural design in a futuristic manner, confounding the conventional and pushing the boundaries of ‘thinking outside the box.”
