New Artist Statement

I just finished my new artist statement for the Paradise City web site- it should go up within the week- and I will put in the link when it does. But I could not help myself from sharing because I am so tickled about it!
​

​
Tapping the Darkness

There are tender places hidden in the recesses of our psyches that long to be seen. I am compelled to go there. I have found that by cherishing and nourishing those bits, by falling in love with the forms that emerge from those places through my hands in clay, everything in life works more smoothly. The friction recedes and the internal voices stop battling with each other.
 
Because I am human, like so many others, I have discovered that my very personal tender bits are in fact not unique- they tap into the human experience.
 
My hope and desire is that these things I love give voice to that which is calling for attention in others, and will make their lives flow more smoothly too.
 
The imagination is an incredible bridge between the thinking mind and the psyche and the body.
 
After years of being an academic, earning my MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and teaching art at small liberal arts colleges, I found myself wanting to go deeper. 
 
Now I split my time between being a professional artist, showing both in galleries and in craft shows as well as creating temporary site specific figurative pieces, and commissioned portraits, and being a transformational life coach. They weave together beautifully. 
 
I help people find ease and flow in getting where they want to go by releasing the friction those tender bits cause when they cannot find voice.

If this is interesting to you, subscribe to my Taproot Arts and Insight newsletter.


Valerie Gilman


​Image #1- Jadu Jadu, sagar fired ceramic on steel, 16 x 16 x 4", $600
Image #2-​ Sweet Spot, sagar fired ceramic, 28 x 8 x 4". $600
Image #3- "Portrait of Untold Stories", 12 x 6 x 8" one of a kind cast bronze, $1300

--