Valerie received a Bachelor’s of Science in Arts and Letters from Portland State University, Portland, Oregon. Her studies included visual arts, the performing arts and literature. After college she performed dance with the Benny Bell Dance Troupe in Portland Oregon and did acting and dancing with the Virus Theater Group in New Mexico. Throughout her working career she participated in life drawing groups in both New Mexico and California and. She also took online courses and workshops to improve her painting skills. In 2016 she started studying clay figurative sculpture at JCLee School of Sculpture in Auburn California, where she became an assistant/instructor. She continues to find educational opportunities through workshops and online courses. Valerie has been showing her work since 2014.
Resume
Awards
Chris Thompson Award
“Bold Expressions”, 2022, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Best of Show
Placerville Art Association 2024 Members Show, for “Cambrian” a mounted Wall Sculpture
“Animal House” 2020, for “Encroachment” a Beaded Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“Animal House” 2019, for “Human Interaction” Clay/Beaded Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“Time to Shine” 2019 for “Sweating Dirt” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“Off the Wall” 2016 for “In Her Hands” Beaded Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
First Place
“Summer Solstice” 2022 for “Sunkissed” Clay Sculpture, Art League of Lincoln
“Joshua Tree National Juried Show” 2019 for “Preasevare” Clay Sculpture
Second Place
Art at City Hall Rancho Cordova Fall 2024, “Peering Through the Veil” Clay Sculpture
“Joshua Tree National Juried Show” 2015 for “Ouch!” Beaded Sculpture
Third Place
“Artistic Journey” 2019 for “Unveiled Hero” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Judge’s Award
“2D 3D” for “Weeeeeee!” 2020 Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Award of Excellence
“Taste of Art” 2023 for “Jack Flaps” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“Motherload” 2023 for “Widow Party” Clay Sculpture, MACC
“Artistic Journey” 2017 for “Work It” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“NCA Members Show” 2016 for “Humour” Oil Painting, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Bold Award
“Bold Expressions” 2019 for “Words Hurt” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Expressive Award
“Bold Expressions” 2020 for “Punked Angels” Clay Sculpture Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Sunshine Award
“Time to Shine” 2020 for “Lily” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Best Sculpture Award
“NCA Members Show” 2021 for “Drunken Marriage” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Honorable Mention Awards
“NCA Members Show” 2023 for “Perspicacious” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“NCA Members Show” 2022 for “Peering Through the Veil” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“Bold Expressions” 2022 for “Sunkissed” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
“3D Vision” 2018 for “Big Scary” Clay Sculpture, Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Solo Show
Gallery at Courtyard Suites, Grass Valley, CA “Human Natures” 2021
Exhibition History
Gallery Exhibitions
ACAI Gallery, Fair Oaks California
“Black & White with One Color,” 2024
“Color” 2024
“Everything Else,” 2023
“Anything Goes,” 2023
“Skin Deep,” 2023
“Twisted,” 2023
“Black & White,” 2023
“Beneath the Surface,” 2023
“Punctured,” 2023
“See What I Saw,” 2023
“Valley Sculpture Association Member Show,” 2021
Placer Arts Association, Placerville California
“The Artists Mind Members Show,” Harris Performing Arts Center, Folsom, CA 2023
“Placer Arts Open Studio Exhibition”,
Hacker Lab, Rocklin, CA, 2018
Westlake Mall, Roseville, CA, 2018
“Rocklin Fine Arts Juried Show,” Rocklin CA, 2017, 2016
Osborne Gallery, Nevada City, California
“Holiday Show,” 2019
Gomez Building, Auburn, California
“Figure it Out,” 2019
“JCLee School of SculptureOpen Studio Exhibition” 2018
Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Healdsburg California
“Animalia,” 2019
Center for the Arts, Grass Valley California
“Smallish Works,” 2018 “
A Native Tree,” 2018 Curated by Deb Foxen
“North of Somewhere,” 2018
“Open Studio Exhibition,” 2021, 2018, 2017, 2016,
Truckee Parks & Recreation Building, Truckee California, Public Exhibition 2016 and 2015
Juried Exhibitions
Blue Line Arts, Roseville California
“Off Center,” 2024 Juror Heidi McKenzie, Ceramic Artist and Board Member for NCECA, the National Council for the Education of the Ceramic Arts
“Politically Charged,” 2024, Juror Mary Tess, Executive Director and Trung Cao, Board Vice President of Blue Line Arts
Arc Gallery, San Francisco, California
“Black & White,” 2023 Juror James Bacchi, founder of James Bacchi Contemporary
Sacramento Fine Arts Center, Carmichael California
“Magnum Opus,” 2024 Juror Patris Miller
“A Taste for Art,” 2023 Juror Karen, Cahill Master Painter
“Northern California Artists Members Show,” 2023 Juror Juan Pena, Published artist and author
“Magnum Opus,” 2022 Juror Marie Campbell, Artist
“Second Chance,” 2023
“Bold Expressions,” 2022 Juror Ray Gonzales, National Board Member of NCECA (National Conference of Education of Ceramic Arts).
“Northern California Artists Members Show,” 2022 Juror David Soon, Founder, producer, and board chairman of Wide Open Walls
“Second Chances,” 2021 Juror not listed
“Motherlode,” 2021 Juror not listed
“The Art of Music and Dance,” 2021 Juror not listed
“Changing Perspective,” 2021 Juror not listed
“Northern California Artist Show,” 2021 Juror Steve Walters, commercial artist, teacher, art director and painter
“Second Chances,” 2020 Juror not listed
“2D, 3D,” 2020 Juror not listed
“Bold Expressions,” 2020 Juror not listed
“Animal House,” 2020 Juror not listed
“Magnum Opus,” 2020 Juror Linda Gelfman, Professor of Ceramics at American River College and founding member of E Street Gallery & Studios
“A Time to Shine Members Show,” 2020 Juror not listed
“The Art of Theater,” 2020 Juror Maggie Morgan, Costume for Stage & Screen
“Taste of Carmichael,” 2019 Juror not listed
“Magnum Opus,” 2019 Juror Steve Memering, Master Painter
“Time to Shine Members Show,” 2019 Juror Skip Lee, Master Painter “
Bold Expressions,” 2019 Juror not listed
“Artistic Journey Members Show,” 2019 Juror Sue Ann Foster, President Valley Sculpture Association
“Animal House,” 2019 Juror Sandy Delehanty, California Watercolor Association
“Artistic Journey,” 2018 Juror Anne Bradley, Professional Artist
“Visions 2D & Visions 3D,” 2018 Jurors Lewis Kemper, Contributing Editor to Outdoor Photographer; Ray Gonzales, Chairman of Feats of Clay
“Artistic Journey Members Show,” 2017 Juror Cherie Hacker, Artist
“Northern California Artists Members Show,” 2017 Juror not listed
“Animal House,” 2018 Juror Bobbie Baldwin Founder of West Coast Society of Portrait Painters
“Animal House,” 2017 Jurors Katherine Lemke Waste, teaches workshops a Crocker Art Museum, President of American Women Artists: James Radford, Photographer; Barbara Schnieder, Educator
“Off the Wall,” 2016 Juror not listed
MACC, Rancho Cordova, California
“Motherload,” 2023
“Motherlode,” 2022
Art League of Lincoln, Lincoln California
“Small Feats of Clay,” 2023
“Summer Solstice,” 2022
“Small Feats of Clay,” 2022
“Pure Imagination,” 2018
Joshua Tree National Park Art Exhibition, Twenty-Nine Palms Gallery, Twenty Nine Palms, California
“Joshua Tree Art Expo and Juried Show” 2020 Jurors Casey Kieran, Owner Joshua Tree Workshops; Brian Rennie, owner of Benchwork Studios: Anna Stump, Artist and Art Ecducator
“Joshua Tree Art Expo and Juried Show,” 2019 Jurors Ann Congdon, Public Arts Advisory Committee of Twenty-Nine Palms; Michael McCall, Executive Curator of Yucca Valley Visual & Performing Arts Center; Wally Pacholka, winner of the G. Bruce Blair Award 2018
“Joshua Tree Art Expo and Juried Show,” 2017 Jurors Diane Best, Professional Artist; Jenny Kane, Mojave Project and KCET Artbound; Billy Shire, Billy Shire Fine Arts
“Joshua Tree Art Expo and Juried Show,” 2016 Jurors Daniel Cornel, Director of Art for the Palm Springs Art Museum; Sant Khalsa Professor of Art, Emerita at California State University; Monica Lynn Mahoney, Director of Education and Public Engagement at the Mojave Desert Land Trust
“Joshua Tree Art Expo and Juried Show,” 2015 Jurors Daniel Foster, North County Arts Network, Oceanside Art Museum, and Riverside Art Museum; Bonnie Kopp, True World Gallery; and Bernard Leibov,BoxoPROJECTS
“Joshua Tree Art Expo and Juried Show,” 2014 Jurors Mike Buchheit, Grand Canyon Field Insititute, Katherine Hough, Palm Springs Art Museum, and Julie Lazar, ICANetwork.org and Founding Curator Museum of Contemporary Art LA
Artery Gallery, Davis California
“30th California Clay Competition” 2019 Juror Bill Abright, Professor at College of Marin
Marin Society of Artists, Marin California
“Ingenuity,” 2018 Jurors Michael Ruiz, painter and Ariel Zaccheo, co-curator of Artist Television Access
Affiliations
Blue Line Arts, Member 2024
Sacramento Fine Arts Center Member 2016-2023
Northern California Artists Board Member 2023
Bold Expressions Show Chair 2023
Rancho Cordova Arts Member 2023-present
Artworks Gallery LLC, Marketing Co-Chair, part owner 2022-present
Placerville Art Association Member 2022-present
JCLee School of Sculpture Assistant/Student 2016-2020
Pioneer Arts Club Member 2015-2016
