Valerie McLean
Artwork for Valerie McLean
Details
How would you describe the work you do and why?
My early work related to sacred places in the landscape that seemed set apart and my first book, May Hill, was initially published in 2007 by Fine Leaf editions. My more recent paintings are about memory. On small square canvases, I strive to build up layers of paint, working from the subconscious, sometimes allowing one coat of paint to act as a veil through which fragments of the previous image can be seen. I am particularly interested in Bookart and the value of sketchbooks and use my sketchbook pages to illustrate published books, including Kilpeck and the Romanesque (2012), Edward Thomas (2014) and the most recent book Walking through the Seasons (2023) I have lived and worked in Ledbury since 1992 and coordinate a BookArts exhibition each year for the Ledbury Poetry Festival.
For you what does being an artist mean?:
For me, making art is not a choice but a kind of language and a way of making sense of the world
Describe what you call yourself/your practice?:
An artist who make paintings, with a particular interest in BookArt
Your practice & activities include e.g workshops, teaching:
After an early career as a trained nurse I eventually taught painting and drawing and led community arts projects in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, working in hospitals and care homes. After teaching workshops for over 40 years I now focus on my own work often in sketchbooks and journals
CV & Education, relevant & leading to your artistic practice:
Fine Art BA (hons) Degree Hereford College of Art
City and Guilds Further Education Teaching Cert.
Exhibitions in the last 3 years:
2023 Laden with Fruit Exhibition, The Chained Library, Hereford Cathedral
2023 -2026 Ledbury BookArt exhibition, Ledbury Poetry Festival
Your gallery outlets/stockists:
Oxenham Art, Leominster T: 07814406878
Oxenham Gallery Ltd Hereford, T: 07814406878
Mi-Frame Gallery, The Hop Pocket, Bishops Frome, T: 07923893135
The Ledbury Collective, Ledbury, T:07790800745