Artwork
Portraits - White Shirt series
The White Shirt Portraits series came about from the artist's gift of a self-portrait to her husband for their 30th Wedding Anniversary. Other clients came in to sit for portraits and asked for the same style. This series is all in white men's shirts and does not convey a period style thus doesn't age the painting. Commissions are accepted and may be painted from photograph and/or sittings. Inquiries are responded to daily.
Valerie Carter-Mitchell's "White Shirt Series" and "Emotions Series" display her passion for fluid portraits with an emphasis on the subject’s emotional show of expression. The subject’s face is the focal point lead by fluid color movement in swirls and waves surrounding and wrapping the subject with unusual placement of arms and legs. The feet and hands possess an open gesture of feeling. All show intense feeling about the face. The viewer feels pulled into the painting through the expressions.
Most of her current works have evolved to more delicate handling of features while still causing the same results. Children and adult portraits capture gentle emotion or feelings of thoughtful solitude. The artist once again uses color effects to pull the viewer into the setting, holding the attention to facial gentility and expressive eyes.
The artist selects pictures of previous years for each subject in the portrait study. The current portrait(s), depicting the subject(s) are located in the bottom right corner of the painting. The various ages of the children during their development are placed in strategic spaces throughout the painting. Photos of the subjects are selected for character and personality throughout the childhood. Darks and lights are used to promote an overall movement of the viewers eye pulling them into the work.
The artist's florals and facescapes are an extension of the above series using the forces of nature to evoke a feeling of empowerment, frailty, inner beauty or serenity. All are designed to cause a feeling of expression. They are an extension of the artist’s belief, "all things have an impact and value to their existence."
The artist selects landscapes for light variances to provoke different moods. Her most captured time are dusk and dawn. Some night scenes with high, full moonlight are also frequently chosen. These are exemplified by Valerie's use of golden and silver colors dancing across the canvas. Darker colors are used at the bottom of the works to weight down the pieces.