Valerie Hearder

		It is my pleasure to introduce my friend Valerie Hearder. Valerie is a thoughtful and spiritual artist whose quilts are an exploration of her sense of place. She was born in Durban, South Africa and she has lived in the Arctic, Labrador, Nova Scotia and since 1996, Newfoundland. Her work describes her personal landscapes with sensitivity and caring.
Valerie is a noted textile artist with teaching and exhibiting experience in U.S.A., South Africa, Northern Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, Japan and Canada. She has been making art quilts for 30 years and is author of a book on textile landscapes. Her work appears in numerous publications including, Fiberarts Magazine, Fiberart Design Book, Art/Quilt Magazine and The 30 Distinguished Quilt Artists of the World 2003, and is held in both private and corporate collections. In 2002 she was nominated for the Saidye Bronfman Award for Excellence in Fine Craft. - Mary Holdgrafer.

Valerie writes: "Landscapes, and exploring a sense of place, have been a central theme in my work since I started making quilts 30 years ago. I grew up in tropical South Africa, leaving there in 1975 to live first in Yellowknife and then Labrador for 5 years. The sharp contrasts of Africa/Arctic have affected my development as an artist. Perhaps the landscape changes the person to the same degree that the person changes that landscape - it is an integral relationship. We absorb the atmosphere and energy of a place we live in, and, when we leave, the imprint of that place is carried within us. My work examines the inner landscapes imprinted by the places I have lived.

Recent works explore the "house" image as a symbol to talk about my relationship to the Newfoundland landscape as well as a more universal symbol of permanence, protection, belonging and displacement. Newfoundland has a fascinating history of taking the house with the family who moves. Deeply evocative images of houses being towed across a Bay is symbolic to me of both displacement and spiritual seeking."


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