Richie McCaw by Valeries Gallery in Auckland

Born in Kiev Ukraine, raised and educated in the UK and now currently residing in Auckland NZ, Val’s art is as diverse as her background and interests. These of course include Art in all shapes and forms, humanity, sport, music, skating, humour and wine – and not always in that order!! In her earlier years, her artistic outlay was as a professional figure skater starting her show career with Disney on Ice then doing various Ice Skating shows around Europe. Moving to New Zealand at 21 she started coaching Figure Skating which became her passion for the next 18 years. However, having to stop coaching to become a full time mum she used whatever time she could to expand her art into portraiture. Her beautiful daughter was her inspiration for her initial portraits and now her extensive portfolio showcases her art in all mediums from oil to coloured pencil. Being told some years ago that she should ‘brand’ herself as an artist to become recognised was to her like being told “you have to have the same dinner every night”. That was a very inhibiting and unnatural concept to her artistic ethos and she decided to re-embrace diversity and experimentalisastion. Having recently discovered Photoshop she is now experimenting with traditional hand drawn techniques with digital image manipulation and is loving the the chance to push her art past the usual parameters of painting with a brush.