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Conversations with the Inspiring Valerie Savarie

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Savarie.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Valerie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I have always been a creator – my mom has scrapbooks filled with drawings, paintings, collages. She would enroll my sisters and me in summer art classes and my dad would take us to art festivals and galleries.

However, once the teen years hit and I yearned to be my own person (not the younger sister), it all changed. My older sister was always the artist and so I became a closet creator for several decades.

In my mid-thirties, I met my soul mate – he urged me to get my art out into the public’s eye. I had a reservation and resisted. He invited a professional artist he met over to the house to look at my work – I was mortified! However, my husband’s confidence in my work had a solid base as the artist thought it was good work and said he would hang a few pieces in his gallery/studio for an opening he had coming up. A few pieces actually sold.

After that, I started applying to group shows and eventually applied to be a member at the now-defunct Zip 37 Gallery – one of Denver’s original Co-op galleries. I didn’t get in, however, they gave me great feedback (“your work is good but you are all over the place – show us a series of work in the same style”). I did what they said, reapplied and got in.

I spent about four years there and was the director of the last three. My style was in constant change until I started creating altered books for the first Denver County Fair in 2011 – Zip 37 had a booth there and I was looking for something new to create. The book sculptures were a hit and I haven’t stopped making them.

In the fall of 2013, I opened Valkarie Gallery in Belmar with my friend and fellow artist Karrie York. We both had full-time jobs and were looking for a studio to share to escape to for better art creating – instead we ended up opening a gallery. After the first year, we decided that it would be easier for me to take on ownership/ leadership and Karrie would be one of the member artists. That meant I took over the small studio we had shared within the gallery and my art creating really took off.

The gallery continues to grow and evolve – we have 18 artists that call it home. I quit the day job a year and a half ago to focus on my art. Besides the gallery, I also show at festivals across the US and am represented by Pop Gallery in Santa Fe, NM. My work can be seen at the Dairy Block in Denver, Children’s Hospital in Colorado Springs, ICON in Merdian, ID and in the book art collection at the Denver Public Library (as well as in homes through the globe).

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I have always done my best to take on life as gender-neutral – me being an artist, not a female artist. At the same time I used to go strictly by Val since that could be a man or a woman’s name – I knew bias was out there.

As I have gotten older, I have embraced myself as a female artist and being ok with people knowing that. I believe a lot of people still see female artists as “crafters” and male artists doing the same thing as “artists.” I also see this as a generational thing that is dying off. Today’s young adults (for me ’20s and under) are much more open to seeing the people as people without the gender stereotypes playing a role.

Still, this younger generation has to deal with the past generations imposing their gender beliefs onto them. My best advice is to believe in yourself if someone is telling you-you can’t do something because you are a woman (or man) then remove that person from your life. If it is a family member then state that may be your opinion and it is only that – an opinion. If you are passionate about what you will find a way to succeed.

Being an artist means living in a world of obstacles. Typically you put in all the time (and material cost) up front in hopes that someone will see value in what you do. If they don’t, as artists we tend to take it personally, we feel we as humans aren’t good enough. On the flip side, we can be so busy selling that we no longer have time to create or take on way too much in order to meet the supply and demand and become burnt out.

If you are just starting out, do some advanced planning: what are your goals? How long will it take to achieve them? How much will it cost to get started? Who is your audience? How do you reach them and have them respond to you? Don’t do it on your own – make sure you have a support team (these can be friend cheerleaders, online support groups) – people who can act as a sounding board and give you honest advice and feedback. Don’t be afraid to take reasonable risks and don’t be afraid of “failure.” Failing is better than not trying at all. Failing is about finding out what doesn’t work which will allow you to find out what does. Failure isn’t negative, it is part of the process of being successful.

Please tell us more about what you do, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
I am an altered book sculptor. I take old books and retell the stories inside – or my interpretations of them. I have fairly strict guidelines – the book needs to be as old as I am (I do break this for commission work or books that are so marvelous even if they are younger than me), I leave everything as bound, I add some of my own painting as well as some sewing/embroidery. I only get one chance to cut each page – even though I could glue a piece back in I consider that cheating. It is a very tedious process.

I start by researching the books to get a synopsis of what it is about. If it piqued my interest, I then start paging through and reading a paragraph here and there – sometimes I do end up reading the entire book. After that, I create a loose sketch, bookmark pages that I think I might want to “expose” and then start cutting. Everything is done with hand tools (I only use a Dremel at the very end to drill the holes I use to bind all the pages together).
Once everything is cut I will either hand sew onto the book cover or onto the pages.

I did a lot of fiber arts as a child and I love bringing back that aspect into my work. At this point, I paint my little black and white characters. I always paint their eyes last as it is my favorite thing to paint and so it is my reward (desert) for getting the meat of the work done.

It typically takes about 40 – 60 hours to complete a piece. With that being said, there are very few artists that create the work I do – it is just too labor intensive. I love that aspect of it – cutting page by page, making sure the cuts are as clean as possible, simply using what the book already has inside. To me, it’s like putting together a puzzle with no image.

As mentioned, I also run Valkarie Gallery in Belmar (Lakewood). It is an art collective representing all Colorado artist (and one from California with strong ties to our state). Our art is not the typical art seen in Colorado and each person has a very unique style. We actually consider ourselves a family. The gallery has both taken me away from my art making and allowed me to expand myself as an artist. There are times where I wish I could just run my own art business and then there are equally the same amount of times where I love the community we have built and can’t imagine not having the gallery.

Do you have any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general? What has worked well for you?
This is so important! I have found that finding people with like minds and goals is key to success. Like minds meaning a passion for creating, sticking to one’s morals, being supportive of others, wanting to explore, grow and be challenged. Don’t connect with people who are always playing the victim, who are negative, who are “yes men” – you will end up giving up.

Opening up Valkarie Gallery – the collective I run in Belmar – has been critical to my growth as an artist and person. I am constantly inspired by the art and artist there. Someone is always open for critique, problem-solving and a hug when the world just doesn’t seem to be on our side.

I personally haven’t had a mentor however I have acted as a mentor to other artists and urge them to also find a group for mentoring that is close to home (or online). I believe that more can be accomplished with a group than with one person.

So, how to find this? Look for people who you admire and reach out to them. Find out if they are part of any meet ups – Valkarie has a drop in Creative Night almost everything Thursday from 5 – 9:30. This not only acts as a place to create, but it also is a platform for critique, sharing what is working and what isn’t, events coming up that one might want to attend as a spectator or artist. It is a place to share and by sharing we grow and become more confident.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Art of Her, Robert Newman, Valerie Savarie

Getting in touch: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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