Ute Vetter was raised and educated in East Germany. In 1965 she tried to escape but was caught and spent five month in political prison. She was released to give birth to her son Kay. When he was three month old, both were sold to West Germany. While in West Germany Ute obtained a doctorate in Geophysics and started to teach at Kiel University.

In 1979 she was granted scholarship for postdoctoral studies at Cal Tech and the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics.

From 1981-1989 Ute worked and taught at UNR in the Seismological Laboratory, afterwards she went to Denver to work for the Government in the seismic hazards program.

She began painting in 1987 when she bought a home with high empty walls. Her first art teacher was Esteban Valle who taught an introductory painting class at TMCC. She paints mainly in watercolor, sometimes in acrylics, and her primary subjects are flowers and landscapes.

While in Denver, Ute joined art groups and exhibited in shows, several of which were juried. After retiring, she returned to Reno at the end of 2001 to live near her son Kay. In the fall of 2002 she took a watercolor class with teacher Ken Heitzenrader at TMCC. She is now a member of the Sierra Watercolor Society.

Ute has many interests, she loves to hike and to ski cross-country. She plans an annual climb of Mount Rose and other peaks in the Sierra.

Travel, classical music, reading and photography are also her passions.