Welcome to Valerie Hildebrand Fine Art and Jewelry
I studied art and theoretical mathematics in college and promptly went into the field of computers where I enjoyed a very successful career. However, a few years ago I decided to pursue my earlier goal of becoming an artist. Now that I have time to devote to my art I’m really inspired to learn as much as I can about new techniques, styles, materials, and tools. This art business still involves a lot of technology, deadlines, and long hours, but they are for my art and I enjoy working hard to achieve my goals.
I’m primarily an abstract artist but recently I’ve ventured into doing some vaguely representational pieces. I’m starting with simple shapes and using my abstract geometric patterns in the background and within the shapes. As usual these pieces are very colorful and I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of meshing my typical style with the representational shapes. I’ve also been painting in acrylics, studying abstract design, learning the ins and outs of graphic design and digital art, and designing fabric from my batik artwork. I am constantly exploring various mediums and techniques and typically have several projects going at the same time. I’m definitely driven to continue to learn as this seems to be the best way to keep my creative spark alive and my interest level high.
About my work:
I studied Art with a focus on Painting at Towson University in Maryland, but my on-going adventures through the world of art techniques has managed to expand my view way beyond the painting of my university days. There are so many ways to express one’s creativity.
Batik on Paper and other non-traditional foundations has been an exciting addition to my art world and is my main medium and focus. I love the element of surprise that comes with working with wax and dyes. The variety of paper and other materials that can be used for this technique makes the possibilities virtually endless and if you add in the mixed media techniques the world expands even more. I am a juried member of the Sonoran Arts League with this medium and am currently working very diligently on new pieces for the various shows and exhibits I participate in.
Jewelry caught my interest a few years ago and the vast majority of my jewelry creations are one of a kind. I’m always experimenting with new techniques and materials so my jewelry designs exhibit a wide variety of styles. Some of my favorite techniques include hand knotting, wire wrapping, forging metals and Precious Metal Clay.
Glass was my first step back into the art world after moving to Cave Creek, Arizona and I spent quite a few years working with stained glass and fused glass. I have not done much with this medium recently but the urge to melt something seems to be getting stronger so I will probably be firing up the kiln soon.
Acrylic paint was my first love and it still plays a significant role in my creative endeavors. I started painting in Acrylics when I was eleven years old and the acrylic artist paints available in our small town were limited to what was available at Sherwin Williams. Now there are so many new products available that were not around when I started painting so I’ve been exploring all of them, finding ways to add new dimensions to my painting.
Digital Art is a recent addition to my repertoire and seems to be a good fit for combining my past computer skills with my artistic endeavors. My current digital art was an extension of some designs for my Batik work where I had actually used the mirror drawing capabilities of my Painter software to create some templates to use for the batik pieces. I then decided to see if I could create an entire piece of artwork on the computer that mimicked the batik piece. I think this is going to become one of my favorite ways to create art.