Artist: Valerie Dibble

Medium: Two color lithograph with hand stamping

Size: 14" x 11"

About the Artist:

I find the inspiration for my art in things close to home, or especially dear to me. Within each of our lives there are universal experiences, common yet set apart, ordinary while consummately extraordinary, mundane while sacred. These kinds of ordinary experiences that have such simplistic beauty make up the majority of my existence. The role of caregiver is central to my life and my art. This is the most important thing I do. My intent for my art is to visually examine my intellectual and emotional responses to the experience of being a homemaker, wife, mother and teacher-the server rather than the served. I also address formal issues that center around the play of light on forms. Through the manipulation of light I strive for an equilibrium between representation and abstraction. The relationship between light and shadow is the focus of this manipulation. The still life of ordinary household objects is often my choice for this expression. I choose to use still-life subjects with which I interact several times a day and therefore have the opportunity to observe throughout that daily cycle of light. Also by using everyday common objects as the subject of my work, I hope to bring awareness and honor to the role of caregiver. Caregiving is often unpaid labor that our society does not value. My work is an attempt to open the viewers' eyes to see the ordinary as extraordinary. My choice for medium is almost always something in the printmaking field, but I often incorporate other mediums as well such as the computer, photography or hand coloring.

Another very important area of my work has been with print organizations such as Southern Graphics Council international (SGCi), American Print Alliance, Atlanta Printmakers Studio and North American Hand Papermakers. These relationships have great benefit to our students.