Valerie Hollstein

A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE ARTIST

1. What do you do when you’re not making art? (Day job etc...).

I am actually employed with Delta Air Lines as a flight attendant, which gives me good time off to create and to explore while on layovers.

2. Why do you make art?

I make art to replace words that I do not find. I speak several languages but none expresses what I feel inside the way brushstrokes do. Brushstrokes have personality and character. They bring emotional and intellectual resonance and reveal secrets not even known by me.

3. What inspires you?

Unfortunately and fortunately everything! I love outdoor painting, figure drawing and painting. I enjoy more difficult mediums, such as glass with which I try to “paint.” I am a representational artist but I find the art of applying brushstrokes to render form abstract enough not to experiment with real abstract painting.

4. What/who are your influences?

I am influenced by my culture. I grew up in France and with a strong exposure to the impressionists and post-impressionists. However, I enjoy all sorts of isms and artistic expressions from very different epochs.

5. If you could meet anyone dead or alive who would it be?

Women artists such as Mary Cassatt, Berthe Morisot and Georgia O’Keeffe. I am also a great admirer of Nicholas Fechin.