We were lucky to catch up with Deserie Valloreo recently and have shared our conversation below.

Deserie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I opened my fine art gallery in the fall of 2022. I wanted to host an event to give back to the community and take the opportunity to introduce DRV Gallery to a broad audience of visual artists and their supporters. There were so many causes I wanted to support that I couldn’t pick just one, so I left it up to the participating artists to choose a cause they wanted to support.

‘Art for a Cause’ in January of 2023 was the gallery’s debut themed exhibition. The juried exhibition featured 20 pieces of artwork spanning multiple mediums.

The 2nd Annual Art for a Cause exhibition was held January 2024. The gallery donated 10% of the sale price (out of the gallery’s commission) to the artist’s chosen cause.

The non-profit organizations being supported by the artists received valuable media exposure through our event promotion and by attending the opening reception where they were able to meet and share information with attendees.

In addition to donating to the artists’ chosen cause, the artists received recognition for their artwork through our promotion of the event. Our judges also selected works to receive awards for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place.

It was a win-win-win-win event benefitting the community, the non-profit organizations, the artists and DRV Gallery.

Deserie, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For as long as I can remember I had a yearning to paint. Unfortunately, for many years this yearning took a back seat to earning a living through more practical roles. In 2017, I was able to take a reprieve from career demands and enrolled in a class to learn the fundamentals of painting. This experience provided the confidence I needed to launch myself into creating artwork. When I first started painting, I painted from photographs. In 2021, I ventured into painting live subjects “in plein air”. I am now capturing scenes in my mind’s eye and putting them on canvas.
When a scene captures my attention, I take a moment to observe as many details as I can. I make a mental note on which direction the light is coming from and the form and placement of the shadows. I sketch out my ideas and what I am not able to recreate from memory, I seek reference photos online. This process has enhanced my ability to be more present in the moment. I am now able to create and share images of people and scenarios we see and experience in everyday life – parenting, family, friendship, and hobbies. I attempt to be courageous in my use of color and I am enamored with the way light touches objects. The combination of these two things results in creations that appear slightly surreal.

I am grateful beyond words for the greater awareness and empathy that creating art has brought me for connecting with the world around me.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of creating art is two-fold for me.

First, there is the joy I receive from creating. When I am working on a painting, I wake up each day with a great sense of purpose. When I complete a painting, I feel fulfilled.

Second, there is the joy of sharing the creation. Whether it is a commissioned work, someone purchases a piece of my artwork for themselves or to give as a gift, or perhaps they just admire a painting where it is displayed in the gallery, it makes me feel valued when others acknowledge and appreciate my artwork.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

When I first opened the gallery, I invited a select group of artists to display their works. As time went by, I was approached by more artists that I wanted to support, but I had limited space. I created special exhibitions to showcase artwork of other artists in the community. I didn’t really think about it at first, but it just kind of happened that my mission became to help artists succeed. In addition to showcasing their artwork, I offer educational workshops and demonstrations to help them expand their creative and business knowledge.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.drvgallery.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drvgallery22/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drvgallery
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deserievalloreo/
• Other: ArtByDeserieV.com

Image Credits
Donna Green, Kristin Fizur