We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Valerie Dumas a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Valerie, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

As an artist, you take a risk everyday by putting your artwork out there on display for everyone to judge. Whether it’s in a gallery or on social media, you’ll hear both positive and negative comments about your creations. It is all part of the practice but at the end of the day, it’s a risk worth taking.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Valerie Dumas and I paint abstracts. I am also the owner of Gillyweeds, a small lifestyles boutique in a suburb outside of Atlanta. Apart from clothing, I sell several home decor pieces, and I just wasn’t finding the artwork that I liked to sell in my shop. All the “art” in the retail shops near me were either churches, angels, cows, or chickens. I do NOT have a farmhouse store!! I am a Floridian who craves bright tropical colors so I was determined to make my own artwork to sell in the shop.

I had been painting coastal landscapes with Encaustics wax since 2010, and I had always wanted to branch out into acrylic painting. So, during covid, I made it my goal to learn everything I could about abstract acrylic painting and started to get comfortable with the medium. I began selling my artwork regularly at Gillyweeds and had a gallery in Apalachicola, FL. contact me to showcase my artwork there. I am now in several galleries and have collectors from all over purchasing my artwork.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Not necessarily a story that illustrates my resilience but as an abstract artist, I get a lot of unsolicited comments that test my resilience. I hear many people comment “oh I can do that” or “that’s not art”… abstract is just that, abstract. Some people can not appreciate the beauty in the chaos that is abstract.. They need a realistic painting to look at and move about their day. A good abstract will make you take a second or two longer to look at it, decipher the imagery, and reflect on it. That is what I strive for.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

This is where I need to practice what I preach! To stay in touch with clients, the most effective way is to have an email list and send out weekly or monthly emails. I’m afraid I do neither and rely on social media to foster brand loyalty. That is definitely something I could work more on.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.valeriedumasart.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/valeriedumasart
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/vkdumasart