Valerie Rogers - BC Wildlife Artist of the Year 2016

It certainly is a great feeling to be chosen as the Artist of the Year 2016 by BC Wildlife Federation. What an honor....to be able to do more by supporting conservation and province wide wildlife protection. The sale of my artwork is helping to fund  their many worthwhile programs. A big thank you to all the volunteers and members  of BC Wildlife Federation who make a difference by protecting our natural habitats and creatures. So great to be a part of that with my artwork.

Lift Off and Soar

My biggest painting to date  is now available for sale. It was created last year to celebrate flight and Canadian geese.  It was featured in the Kelowna International Airport in the departures area for six months. Thousands of visitors to the area had the chance to have a close up view on this flock of nine almost life size geese lifting off and flying away. These large birds are a delightful mix of power and grace.

It was a intense but satisfying project to paint a 33 foot long wildlife life painting that represented something so very familiar and beautiful.
For pricing, hanging and shipping information please contact me,
Valerie Rogers     rogersart@shaw.ca    or         250-832-2336

Remembering Stanley

We are a cat loving family and we have been lucky enough to have some wonderful cats over our lives. But Stanley stands out because he was such a sweet loving and yet fun loving cat....he was an easy cat to live with...he loved our company but was happy enough to do his own thing if we were too busy to play with him.

He was big and fluffy....with a loud purr that always made me smile. Now he has been gone for a while  but  today was a cat missing day for me....so I thought I would share a painting from years ago that features Stanley...the wonder cat.

This painting has it own story as it was created to celebrate the 75 birthday of Salmon Arm's Art Gallery heritage building which has in its time been a post office, library and gallery.  You will notice a letter under two books with titles that reflect the buildings story, under Stanley to celebrate all the cats that have been fed at the back door of the SAGA building.  Oh the memories.  :)

Wild Mess...then Tidy

I know artists are supposed to be all messy and wild.....kind of bohemian with a touch of crazy. Now not saying that isn't true when I am in the midst of painting. Paint gets flicked everywhere, paper towel and rags are dropped wherever when un-needed....I wheel around in my chair like a rally driver from my easel to my view point when checking how the painting looks from a distance. It is wild, tense and fun.

But when I am done the day of painting I like to tidy up ....get the paints ready for using again ...get those brushes totally clean and ready...make sure the stack ofpaper towel is there, that my eraser, pencil and exacto blade are ready too.

So when creating time comes again, I can just fly at it. I even get my clean water ready for the next day. I want to fall into the artwork not fuss when I start. So yes, my work space is fairly tidy and I do manage it so that it doesn't overwhelm me when I work.  Nothing better than to just create without having to search for the missing magenta or refill the glazing liquid.  Start the day clean with a clear vision...it goes so much better that way.

Art for Conservation

It is my pleasure to be able to use my artwork to support a variety of conservation groups that work hard to preserve our creatures and their habitat.  These people take their time, energy and funds to find new and innovative ideas to protect and preserve the creatures of our world from the many dangers that our lifestyles presents. I want to take this blog to say a huge Thank you to those individuals that care enough to do this.

The world is full of many differing ideologies and while we don't all come to the decision to protect our natural world from the same position, I sure appreciate all the people that are lending their hands and hearts to this.

It brings me joy to do my bit to help, both with personal effort, funds and my artwork.

We all need to bring this to the forefront of our minds and think about the adjustments that we can make in our lives that will make a difference to our natural world and it inhabitants....it will benefit us...as we too are inhabitants.

Pygmy Owl Painting - Start to Finish

Here it is a photo story showing the start to finish of my acrylic painting on illustration board.  It is a small painting 8x10 inches.  Hope you enjoy seeing its development.

New Year - New Art

It is always great when a new year starts and I make my plans of what I dream will happen this year.
Some of them are the same each year....always seem like there is a few pounds I would like to lose. Always know I would like to be healthier and stronger.

But each year the art goals change a bit...I want to push myself to grow, create better and more emotional art. By emotional I don't mean art that makes you cry, but I would like to keep improving my art work so that when you look at the paintings they speak to you, remind you of the wonder of the creatures that share the world with us. Those beautiful natural landscapes that are food for our eyes and souls.  I hope that my art make you remember when you had the chance to see them....and all the feelings that moment brought to you. A painted translation of the wild magic of nature at its best.

As 2016 starts, I am planning my goals and my anticipation is high. Keep watching and see what happens. :)