My Work
My Artwork is a response to elements of the natural world. Impressions are conveyed to paper and canvas with a candid spirit. Art and Soul are fused by explorations in painting and printmaking.
My art melds the beauty of the landscape, the vitality of the natural world around me, with the inspiration and collective energy of my diverse wanderings. I create with curiosity and awe in honor of life.
Biography
Valerie Graham is an American artist whose transcendent works unify seemingly opposing forces of tranquility and impermanence. Her works reflect her history as an artist who grew up in New York City and later traveled and lived for periods in various parts of North and South America.
Valerie’s talent was first recognized at the age of 13 when a color study was showcased in a juried exhibition. She was subsequently selected for placement in an advanced visual arts track in high school. Her early training under the guidance of skilled arts educators ignited a lifelong interest in making and exhibiting art.
In the 70’s she relocated to rural Montana where her artistic interests turned to the design and construction of a women’s fashion line which she sold through a collective gallery in Kalispell. Her involvement in the collective eventually developed into a 20-year career of owning and operating successful galleries, first in the Northwest and later in the Southwest of the United States. She ran a successful framing business and art consultancy as well.
Each location where she lived sparked an interest in the indigenous imagery and folklore of local cultures that informed her own work as an artist. She has lived and worked in multiple states including New York,Massachusetts, New Mexico, Arizona, Louisiana, as well as countries of Mexico,Colombia and Argentina. The changing times, locations and perspectives gained from a series of diverse and intense cultural immersions continue to inform the ever-evolving style of her artwork.
What emerges today in her art are explorations into the natural world from each of these locations, sometimes infused with respective cultural and historical artifacts and mythic symbols. Her work spans a variety of visual mediums and sometimes combines them. She has a passion for printmaking focused on etchings, monoprints and the layering of mixed media. She also paints in oil and watercolor. The threads of content from nature and many cultures are woven together in colorful imagery that is both complex and soulful.
Alley Cat Studio in Tucson, Arizona is open for special events and by appointment.