Today we’d like to introduce you to Rosemary Valente.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I studied in college to be an Elementary School teacher but little did I know that after teaching 4th grade for 6 years all that would change because of a move to Oahu, Hawaii in the early 70″s. When I couldn’t find a teaching job immediately, I couldn’t resist the call of the beautiful Koolau Mountain Range in Kaneohe where I would reside for 3 years. Knowing nothing about drawing or painting, I enrolled in a painting class at the Bishop Museum and then later the Honolulu Academy of Art.
The rest is history because I was hooked on this new discovery process that had won my heart and soul over the next 45 years. My art career was enhanced by studying with Ralph Costantino when I arrived in San Diego in the early 70″s. His use of color and playfulness rubbed off in my own work and I couldn’t turn back. In addition to painting, Costantino and Valente started a Wear A Painting Company and devoted several years in the 80″s to a hand painted clothing line that was shipped to boutiques and resorts all over the U.S. While the business experience did prove to be a valuable learning lesson, ( 4 years) I turned in the painted fabric for the call of canvas once again. I felt the need to express my inner soul through a more visual expressionistic technique.
Please tell us about your art.
My art is a personal expression of places visited and experiences that then get translated onto canvas or paper. I often paint with oil, acrylic, crayons, pencil and often collaged papers. My paintings do not replicate nature: they transform it. I paint primarily from impressions stored in my subconscious. My work will be EXPRESSIONISTIC not REALISTIC. My application of color emphasizes form, creates harmony in non-harmonious subjects, evokes emotions and intensifies images. Because of my Italian heritage, my trips to Italy have been my biggest inspiration in the colorful landscapes that I have rendered, especially those majestic cypress trees.
I have been on a life long journey of travel all over the world so bringing up scenes from memory becomes easy. Some of my work in the 90″s reveals the influence of the German Expressionists acquired during the time spent in Munich wandering the museums. “Often the landscapes will leave the realm of Expressionism and deal with color, shape and design. Thus, they become abstract…Music without words. If you think of abstract work as MUSIC WITHOUT WORDS, the viewer can hopefully appreciate the color, design, feel, texture etc. and not ask, “What is it?”” They can enjoy and interpret it in their own way.
Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
I think the role of the artist has become more complex because our world is now so divided and diversified. You don’t have to go far to be involved in topics that make for diversified conversation. A fellow artist has just received a commission to erect a bigger than life size iron sculpture of a Woman Figure looking over the San Diego, Tijuana border; supposedly suggesting unity. My work is not so much influenced by the happenings of the world but rather reflect my inner feelings and thoughts. I prefer to go to this place of PEACE.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
I have been exhibiting my work at the Del Mar Art Gallery in Del Mar, California for over 14 years. Several or my painting are always displayed for viewers and collectors alike. We have quarterly receptions open to everyone. Imaging the World Gallery in Santa Fe, New Mexico is now displaying several of my newer images. I am often in many of the exhibits at the Front Porch Gallery in Carlsbad and am an active member of the San Dieguito Art Guild in Encinitas, Ca. I am an active member of the Art Alliance connected with the Oceanside Museum of Art and have exhibited at some of their juried exhibitions. I expect to have a painting entitled, Mexican Romance,” to be published in the Sargent Art Group Book soon to be released this year. Future shows and exhibits are posted on my Facebook page.
My paintings are in the permanent collection of Pfizer Inc., LaJolla, Ca., The Ocean Club, Long Beach, Wavetek, Corporation, San Diego, Sunrise Design Center-La Quinta California, Augusto Angelucci, Architect- The Pines of La Jolla, Calif.; Amazon.com; OopsyDaisy.com-International.
Contact Info:
- Website: rosemary.valente.com
- Phone: 760 809 9422
- Email: rosemary@valente.com
- Facebook: Rosemary Valente
Image Credit:
Rosemary Valente
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