Vera Pavlovna Poleva was born in the village of Sludka, Sverdlovsk Region, in 1959. In 1977, she enrolled at a technical vocational school where she studied tray painting. Later, she joined the workshop at the Emalposuda (Enamelware) factory which was reviving the traditional Nizhny Tagil art of tray painting. In 1978, Vera Poleva became a member of the first creative team at the workshop and worked on creating traditional floral arrangements.

In 1985–1990, Vera Poleva studied at the School of Art and Graphics of the Nizhny Tagil State Pedagogical Institute. For her contribution to reviving the Ural lacquer painting and preserving its traditions, she was awarded the silver medal of the All-Union Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy and the Lenin Komsomol Prize.

In 1996, Vera Poleva was accepted into the Union of Russian Artists as one of the finest tray painting artists. She was elected chairperson of the Section of Decorative and Applied Arts of the Union’s branch in Nizhny Tagil.

In 2006, Vera Poleva designed the tray titled “Grivna” using the traditional Ural floral painting. She used a two-color brushstroke technique where different paints were applied to the opposite sides of a brush. One oil paint was chosen in accordance with the tray’s color palette and the other one was golden. Against a dark background of various shades of brown, the artist depicted Nizhny Tagil roses, poppies, and small flowers, surrounded by bumblebees. On the rim of the tray, she painted a golden butterfly.

Over many years of practice, Vera Poleva has mastered a wide rounded brushstroke which has added volume and a sense of movement to the bouquet on this tray. The artist developed her unique style under the influence of her teacher, the craftswoman Agrippina Vasilyevna Afanasyeva (1913–2004). It was she who mastered the two-color brushstroke technique and helped preserve the Nizhny Tagil tray painting art as a unique art form.

In the modern history of the region, Vera Poleva is known as one of the first tray painting artists to win the Sverdlovsk Governor’s Prize. In 2018, she was awarded the honorary title of the Master of Folk Arts and Crafts of the Sverdlovsk Region.