Valerie Biebuyck

Bio

Valerie studied fine art and exhibited at the Ruth Prowse School of Art in Cape Town, South Africa, under the tutelage of renowned South African Artist Frank Laubscher. While living and working as an information technology management consultant in the USA, her art was exhibited at The Green Hill Center for North Carolina Art in Greensboro, NC where she won first prize for her entry On My Own Time in their annual fine arts competition and honorable mention three years running.

Valerie has seldom been without a camera in her hands and gained much of her foundational experience after inheriting a professional top of the range Asahi Pentax camera with a full range of lenses. Since arriving in Canada, she has thrown all her energy into combining her two passions by using photography as a medium for creating art. Thus her training and experience in fine art defines her photographic style. Visitors who enter her gallery often mistake her photographic works for paintings – a mistake that Valerie considers to be a validation of her intention. She has been greatly encouraged, inspired and supported by the artist Kathy Hooper, and the art photographer Freeman Patterson.

Valerie’s first solo Canadian exhibition Phantasmagorical, showing a large collection of her works of art using the medium of photography, opened at Hooper Studios Art Gallery on 18th Oct and ran until 7th Nov 2009. In 2010 Valerie and her husband converted a barn, situated on their beautiful Darlings Island property bordering the Kennebecasis River, into a studio and gallery. Soon after completion, the studio was included in the tenth King’s County Studio Tour. This year will be the second time Valerie’s studio has participated in this tour.

Also in 2010, Valerie presented My Simple Photographic Secrets at The Saint John Arts Centre and her proposal to exhibit there during the 3rd quarter 2011 was accepted.

An interview with Valerie about her work appeared in the 17th Oct 2009 Salon magazine. The cover article on the 6th Nov 2009 KV Style magazine also featured her work.

Valerie is a member of The Saint John Art Centre, ArtLink NB and The Word Guild of Canada.

The Artist’s Statement

The works of art that I created since coming to Canada reflect my response to the abundance of gorgeous visual stimuli in New Brunswick. I am inspired by the ever-changing scenes around me and I love to explore the subtle unexpected details that, at first glance, could easily be missed. I hope my visitors will respond to my works of art with a sense of renewed discovery as places, people and objects that are familiar to them are revealed in out of the ordinary perspectives.

The works of art that will be displayed during the Studio Tour will include representative works from the following collections:

The Kennebecasis River which runs along the boundary of my property has been a balm to my soul as I settled into my new life far from family and friends in South Africa. Along its banks I feel as if I am walking in the thin places between Heaven and Earth. I attempt to capture this spirit-filled atmosphere. The photographs I selected for this exhibition allow the viewer to look into the details of underwater mysteries, cloudy reflections, swaying water plants and surface ripples.

The Doors of Saint John Reconstituted was created as a result of my response to the unique history of Saint John’s architecture. Although much of the early architectural evidence was obliterated during a tragic fire, the buildings that survived were protected and preserved and the rebuilding of Saint John was executed with care and taste. In particular I was fascinated by the beautifully preserved historic doors. I was aware that many photographers had previously used them as the subject of their art, but I wanted to pay my own homage. I have repositioned each door into a foreign context so that the viewer may imagine stepping through into an imaginary heaven, water or forest world beyond.

The People of Saint John are approachable, friendly and willing to make time to converse unreservedly. I wanted my photographs to reflect this generosity of spirit and the energy that they put into their everyday working lives. I spent several hours in and around the Saint John City Market capturing images of diverse characters. The resulting images capture a fleeting moment in the day of each featured person and the objects of her or his immediate attention represented in bold colours. In contrast the rest of the picture fades away into monochrome, providing the wider context of the scene, but with less emphasis.

Mysterious is a collection of images framed on canvas that intends to challenge the viewer’s interpretation: water swallowing the sky; pebbles and branches interwoven; the real and the reflection merged and confused; reflections of bridges and landscapes mirrored in crystal clear rivers so you could turn the picture upside down and still not know which was real and which was reflection; modern art sketched and etched by great ships scraping their many-times-painted hulls against the sides of a canal; red mud bleeding into the disturbed turquoise waters of a river; composites of several photographs mixed and matched to form imaginary edgy scenes of sky, sea and land as the day ebbs and flows; pebbles ground smooth in the ebb or tide; and other puzzles to incite the imagination.

Please visit my studio during the tour or if you miss the tour, phone me to make an appointment for another day. I welcome visitors and will enjoy talking with you. (506) 832 2407. See my website: www.phototropical.com or email me at phototropical@gmail.com

Studio Tour Location

From Saint John: Travel NE on Highway 1E towards Sussex. After 18Km take exit 142 signed to Highway 100, Quispamsis/Nauwigewauk: off ramp puts you onto Palmer Brook Road, which then becomes Highway 100E. After 2.6 Km take a slight left onto Station Loop Road. After 1.5 Km take 1st road left over railway line onto Darlings Island Road. After 4.8 Km turn sharp left onto Stockdale Road. After 300 meters, arrive at destination on Right. Walk down path on Right side of house to The Red Barn in field.

From Moncton/ Sussex: Travel SW on Highway 1W towards Saint John. Take Exit 158 signed to Hampton: turn right at the end of the off- ramp bringing you onto Hall Road. Turn right at the end of the off ramp. After 750 metres at sign to Quispamsis turn left onto Highway 100W signed to Quispamsis. After 7.5 Km take slight right onto Station Loop Road, Take 1st right onto Darlings Island Road. After 4.8 Km turn sharp left onto Stockdale Road. After 300 meters, arrive at destination on Right. Walk down path on Right side of house to The Red Barn in field.