Discover how a right-brain creative person got bogged down in a left-brain numerical job, until abandoning it to follow her passion. A Pretty Talent is proud to present Art by Val in the Gallery.
I was born in East London, South Africa and have lived here all my life. I am married and I have three children who are all married. I also have two beautiful granddaughters (living in the USA) and two lovely grandsons.
On leaving school I worked for the South African Railways for two years then I left and decided to have my children and be a stay at home Mom. So I didn’t work for the next nine years, or should I say I didn’t work for an Employer. When my youngest child started school I went back to work mornings only and it was always on the bookkeeping side of things. I wasn’t a career orientated person, being an artist, as I was always wanting to create something. So I spent a lot of my afternoons doing homework with the children, sewing (my other passion) and a lot of handwork like knitting and crocheting etc.
As a family we love travelling and camping. We have been avid campers now for 30 years. We have and try to go camping once a month and lately do a bit of overlanding, changed our caravan to a 4 x 4 camper which my husband designed and built himself. I have taken a great many photo’s which serves as inspiration for my art.
I started following my passion about 15 years ago when I watched someone painting in oils. The odour of the paints was amazing and it stirred something within me. So I decided to take some painting classes which lasted for two years. After that I got most of my knowledge for oil painting from books and dvd's and now the internet. Thank you kind folk for sharing all your knowledge with us.
My passion is painting almost realistic flowers, I say almost 'cause I also try and keep it as loose as it will go. Floral art is extremely interesting as it is quite a challenge to get the petals looking transparent and realistic.
The subject matter is also limitless. I also love painting portraits. I actually dabble in all kinds of painting ie, landscapes and the occasional abstract. I absolutely love colour. To me colour is the most important aspect in oil painting. I love to experiment with colour and usually mix my colours from the primary colours.
I am blessed to have a lovely sunny studio from which I work and have spent many happy hours in.
"Life is so exciting and interesting and I choose to keep it that way."
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