I paint to find myself, Each brushstroke listens before it speaks. Each color holds a feeling I didn’t know how to name. The women I paint are not strangers. They are reflections, echoes, possibilities. They carry softness in their posture and strength in their stillness. Some look outward. Some turn inward. All of them belong. When I paint, I give myself permission to be layered; bold and fragile, dreaming and grounded, unfinished and whole. I let my hands move before my thoughts, trusting that truth knows the way. Flowers bloom where words fall short. Hearts repeat what memory remembers. Night skies, flowing hair, and quiet gazes become symbols of becoming. Each canvas holds a moment of honesty; a place where I don’t have to explain myself to be understood. Empowerment, for me, is not loud. It lives in presence. In softness that refuses to disappear. In a woman standing in her own emotional landscape without apology. Through painting, I learn to tr...
In every crisis there is an opportunity. Covid 19 brought out the inner artist, inner singer, inner dancer in most of us; and in my case it is the inner baker. On our 5th Anniversary last June 26, my husband bought me a convection oven, thus, the baker valerie was born. Here are some of my creations so far. My secret ingredient is love. 🤎 Chocolate Cake with Homemade Chocolate Frosting Artisan Bread Raisin and Cashew Biscotti Chocolate Chip Cookies Vanilla Cake with Colorful Sprinkles Carrot Cake Bars and Biscotti Homemade White Loaf Cinnamon Raisin Bun