Valigrl                                   Val Roy                                            (613) 316-6004                                      valley9@hotmail.com   Artist Statement  Resonating energy.  What sets your soul on fire?  Excites you? Absorbs you? Makes you smile from the inside?  I love the ocean. I never tire of it. It begins with the salty sea smell.  The sun’s warmth, sandy toes. I feel both energized and relaxed.  Watching the strength of the waves as they rhythmically crash to shore.  The colors –teals, blues, aquas. Or a night of live music…watching the energy build, the passion of the artists. The energy, the atmosphere, the soul-wrenching passion. Both of these places allow me to escape the everyday world, ponder the universe, and be still enough to listen to the depth of my soul.   I paint to capture the energy of things that inspire me, my passions, and vitality for life, and to share this with others. I want to allow my soul to speak.  It conveys my inner truth and enthusiasm for life!   I love color. I paint in fluid, solid and open acrylics.  The combination of their properties allows me to work both spontaneously, and to achieve depth in my work. I love to pour fluid acrylic paint and watch it flow.  For me, process is as important as the final piece. This energetic paint handling helps to convey and maintain my passion for the subject and keep my work fresh and dynamic. For these same reasons, I love plein-air painting and sketching musicians- capturing the lines, angles, colors, and the energy I feel. I like to sketch on a textured surface with chalk or charcoal.  I enjoy a sense of movement and try to make my painting dance right off the canvas. I also love texture, and use modeling paste, string gel, and a palette knife, often scoring, scraping and combing the surface to achieve my desired effects.  I strive for depth both in my surface textures and the meaning behind my work.   For this reason, I frequently work in layers and prefer a gestural, semi-abstract approach. I also seek a certain degree of obscurity or ambiguity in my work.  This allows the viewer to interact with the painting, stimulates their imagination, and leaves room for them to bring their own experiences and feelings to the painting. Maybe even make the viewer contemplate: what energizes and captivates me? Makes my senses tingle? Makes me feel alive?   Biography My creative pursuits are continually evolving. My ongoing interest in the arts resulted in my career path change to teaching high school Visual Arts. I have experimented in a variety of mediums related to painting. My initial works in watercolors evolved into an interest in mixed media due to my love of texture. I currently work in both heavy body and fluid acrylics. Another ongoing passion is making jewelery.  I have also become quite interested in incorporating wirework into my jewelery.   Associations International Society of Acrylic Painters (ISAP), 2011 Ontario Plein Air Society (OPAS), 2011 Almonte & Area Artists' Association (AAAA), 2010 - 11 Ottawa Art Association (OAA), 2009 - present Nepean Fine Arts League (NFAL), 2007 - present Ottawa Mixed Media Artists (OMMA), 2005 - present

Workshops Expressionism: Power, Passion and Paint, Steve Rose, Haliburton School of the Arts, August, 2012 Bhat Boy, Independent Study,        Fall, 2011 Robert Burridge Workshops, Vermont, July, 2011 Abstraction in Art and Nature,       Steve Rose, Haliburton School          of the Arts, July, 2011 Bead Fest Wire, Philadelphia,      April, 2011 Watermedia Workshop, Skip Lawrence, Springmaid, South Carolina, March, 2011 Plein Air Painting Workshop, Judith Greeenleaf, San Jose Los Cabos, Mexico, March, 2010 Plein Air Painting Workshop, Jacqueline Baldini, Monhegan Island, Maine, August, 2009  Mixed Media Workshop, Gerald Brommer, Springmaid, South Carolina, March, 2009   Masters Watermedia Workshop, Mary Todd-Beam, Arrowmont, Tennessee, July, 2008 Art Clay Certification, BeadFX, Toronto, February, 2008     Exhibitions Glebe Art in Our Gardens Tour, July, 2012 Orleans Festival, June, 2012 Soul Food, Gigspace Gallery, solo show, April, 2012 Glebe Fitness, solo show, February - April, 2012 Pulsing Energy, Irene's Pub, solo show, February, 2012 Hintonburg Artisan Craft Fair,                     November, 2011 Miele Gallery, September, 2011 La Vandemmia, Little Italy, wine festival, September, 2011 Feed the Fire, Atomic Rooster,               solo show, August, 2011 Glebe Studio and Garden Tour,               July, 2011 ArtsPark, Hintonburg, May, 2011 Images on Canvas, City Hall, Gatineau, May, 2011 Art in the Attic, Almonte, May, 2011 Strut Your Stuff, Glebe Community Centre, 2011, 2012 Everybody's Art Show, Irene's Pub, January, 2011, 2012 Baz'Art, Shenkman Arts Centre, December, 2010 Small Wonders VI, Britannia Gallery, November, 2010 NFAL Winter Show, Helenic Centre, November, 2010, 2011 The Cock Show, Atomic Rooster, September, 2010 NFAL Members Show, City Hall, June, 2010, 2011 The New Art Festival,  Glebe, June, 2010 ArtsPark, Parkdale Market, May, 2010 Woman's Work, Irene's Pub, group exhibition,  Feb., 2010 Ottawa Little Theatre, OAA group exhibiton, 2009 - present Arts for Autism, 2009 St. Brigid's, Rhapsody in Hues,           juror's choice award, 2009 Old Ottawa South Art Show, 2009, 2010 NFAL Spring Sale, 2009 Group Exhibit, D'Omma, 2009 In the Groove, Irene's Pub, solo show, 2009 Ottawa Artisans Guild Show and Sale, 2008 Size Matters, Brushstrokes Gallery,   juried exhibition, 2008 Canvas in Colours, 2008, 2009, 2010 Friends of the Farm, 2008, 2010 Art in Strathcona Park, 2008, 2010 Art Canal, 2008 Urban Art in Minto Park, 2008 NFAL Clothesline Show and Sale, 2008, 2009, 2010 Art in the Park, 2008 NFAL Art Show and Sale, Nepean Sportsplex, 2007, 2008, 2009 Mixed Greens, Herb Garden, exhibition, 2007 Reality's Edge, Britannia Gallery,  juried exhibition, 2007