Garden Sounds, 2019

Valérie Butters  

Valérie Butters is an artist who has burst upon the art scene in Montréal, Toronto, British Columbia, Ottawa and Paris. She is fascinated by the subconscious and influenced by surrealism and expressionism. She has studied under many prominent contemporary artists such as: Jennifer Hornyak, Marilyn Rubenstein, Seymour Segel, Shirley Kats, Philip Iverson, Sophie Jodoin, and Jacques Clement. She was also inspired by the revolutionary Canadian artist, Paul-Émile Borduas.

Borduas created a very different vision of life and art with his spontaneous expressions of emotions, feelings, and sensations. While his work was considered radical at the time, Butter's work is seen as joyful explosions of colour and emotion. Her evolution and exuberant exploration of colour and composition make her still-lifes and landscapes flamboyant and exciting.

Valerie attended the Ottawa School of Art in 2001 and, in 2005, graduated from a three-year Comprehensive Arts Program at the Saidye Bronfman Centre, in Montreal, where she received art scholarships in 2003 and in 2004. Her quick evolution and exploration of colour and compositions resides in her still-lifes and landscapes. Her large formats and flamboyant style have caught the eye of art critics such as Henry Lehmann of the Montréal Gazette (11 September 2004) who described her work as “…interestingly gaudy, exuberantly messy…"

“… Valerie's work is an expression of her constant quest for freedom of expression and the passion to let her subconscious take control …" (Brett Anningson; Arabella Magazine, Spring 2015)

Valérie now resides and paints in Pemberton, British Columbia with her husband and son