THE BOOT ST O R I E S F R O M T H E T E X A S H I L L C O U N T RY
H O W A B U S I N E SS W O M A N A N D P H I L A N T H R O P I ST ST R I V E S TO P R ES E R V E H I STO RY
A CO U P L E ’ S H O M E F I L L E D W I T H FA I T H A N D FAV O R I T ES
2022 | ISSUE 3
A FO R M I D A B L E W H I S K E Y T E A M A N D T H E K E YS TO S U CC E SS
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Valerie Walden, a late bloomer as an artist, in her Austin studio.
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Latent Talent
Painter Valerie Walden proves it’s never too late to pursue your passion. BY RO GER MUNFORD
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here was a time when anyone who knew Valerie Walden probably would have described her first as a successful, hard-charging business executive, including Walden herself. That was 20 or so years ago. These days she’s more likely to be known as an accomplished and well-regarded artist. And that’s not at all what she envisioned herself becoming in her early years. “No, I was not an artist when I was young,” Walden says. But her older sister Gerry was. “I remember coming home from (elementary) school with this little relief I’d made from cardboard cutouts and papier-mâché, and I rushed to show her. I said, ‘Gerry, I got an A+ on this,’ and she told me it was wonderful. But I was looking at her paintings and realizing that what I’d done really wasn’t very good. I remember thinking that I didn’t have any talent.” Her sister went to art school. Walden chose a different path. With a bachelor’s degree in management and marketing from Texas A&M University, and
a master’s from Troy University in Alabama, she stormed into the world of business. After cutting her teeth at the Ogilvy & Mather advertising agency and Continental Airlines, she became vice president of marketing at a cell phone company that was acquired by AT&T Wireless in 1994. She moved on to another telecommunications firm, which brought her to Austin. And in 2000, she became chief operating officer of a company that produced an inexpensive internet access device. But then burnout set in. “I was just at that point where I’d been through so much,” she says with a sigh. “Life in the internet bubble: You’re hiring people, you’re firing people, the company was bleeding money. My mind was blowing up. I think I was successful in business because I always loved what I did, and I didn’t love it anymore.” In early 2001, she resigned from the job. And that’s when the second chapter— the artistic chapter—of Walden’s story began. Back to school
The next day, she signed up for an art class at Laguna Gloria (then the Austin Museum of Fine Arts, but now The Contemporary Austin). Having long before decided she did not share the raw talent of her sister, she did so with low expectations.
“Remember, I had no formal training, but I signed up for a class in figurative life drawing. There was this model, and I had a huge canvas, but I ended up drawing her this big,” she says, holding her thumb and index finger just a few inches apart. “My instructor kindly told me, ‘You can do that a little bit bigger.’ Walden continued with the art classes, moving over to soft pastels. “I realized I wanted to get involved with the art community and found myself a studio I could share. There were a few of us and it was great,” Walden says. “But then the lady who ran the place moved away, and so the business side of me took over.” Walden took up the reins, managing the North Austin studio, taking care of the lease and rent, running the shows, branding the website, and making the operation profitable. In 2007, it was established as an artist’s co-op called Austin Art Space. “And that’s when I realized I was leaning back into business when I really wanted more time to devote to my art. So I turned it over to the nonprofit Austin Visual Arts Association,” Walden says, adding proudly, “It’s still here.” That was really the moment that Valerie Walden started treating herself seriously as an artist, making the first of many trips to Idaho to study with Scott Christensen, a renowned landscape artist.
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Art for art’s sake
She took a two-week introductory class with Christensen, a painter and teacher for more than 40 years. “I was with Val when she was a beginner in this craft of painting, and I really loved the enthusiasm she always portrayed, right from the start,” says Christensen. “Val’s passion for painting is evident in her work.” Walden studied with Christensen over a three-year period, and that began her love affair with plein air painting, which is all about experiencing the world outside your studio, painting and drawing within a landscape. It was not her original intention. “I thought I would enjoy painting abstracts when I got started, but that was not to be,” she says. “Every time I started painting, I found myself trying to make it look like something.” Walden’s passion is capturing moments of nature in a realistic yet stylized interpretation of what she sees. “You know, there are some photographic artists that do amazing work, but that’s not me: I don’t have the patience. My paintings are more representational than literal. I love to paint birds—you know it’s a bird, but it’s not every feather on the bird.” It took a while for her to develop her style. “I think you just work through what your style is, what you’re comfortable with. During one workshop, the only thing the instructor told me was that my work was ‘joyful,’” she says, laughing. “You ask someone you respect to critique your work and get ‘joyful.’ That’s not what I was hoping for!” Home is where the art is
As Walden will tell you, she spent 10 years as an artist finding her feet, and the last decade trying to refine her art. “I have many people who love my art—
some who have multiple pieces of my artwork, but I still feel like I have a long way to go,” she says. As she walks around her home studio in Austin, Walden proudly opens book after book, pointing out paintings that have inspired her. “Look at this,” she says, holding up a print of Nocturne in Blue and Silver: The Lagoon, Venice, a 19th century painting by James McNeill Whistler. “This is a good example of representational art: You know it’s a boat, that’s a tower, there’s water, but there’s not a lot of detail. Just beautiful.” One of her most important influences is American painter Mary Cassatt, a friend of Edgar Degas and the only American artist to exhibit her work with the Impressionists in Paris. Other inspirations include landscape and portrait artist John Singer Sargent, landscape artist George Inness, and Richard Schmid, the latter for his work in pastels. Walden’s home studio has two areas carved out—one for pastel work and the other for oil. Each space is dominated by large windows with panoramic views of Lake Austin. Everywhere you look are photographs of places Walden has visited, prompting her to capture what she’s looking at as inspiration for future pieces. Much of her inspiration flows from the beautiful Hill Country surrounding the second home she shares in Boot Ranch with her husband of 34 years, Kirk Walden. “So, this is just outside of Fredericksburg,” she says, holding up a series of images. “It’s called Willow City Loop, famous for its bluebonnets, and my painting is going to be gorgeous as I’m going to be using the depth of that sunset for its focus.” Walden usually has at least two, but sometimes as many as five, paintings going at the same time. “Of course, it depends on the size, composition, and complexity of what I’m painting, but it
usually takes me a few weeks to finish a piece,” she says. Find a job you enjoy doing
As well as being an artist, Walden is an avid golfer and that’s why she so loves her home at Boot Ranch. But when she’s in Austin, you can generally find her in her studio anywhere from three to six days every week. “I’m enjoying what I’m doing,” she says, “versus when I sat in a board meeting all day, and all I thought about was, ‘How can I get out of here?’” Recalling her time as a business executive, she says, “I never really looked around me. Now I notice how the light hits the trees; I marvel at how many shades of green there are. And I feel so honored when someone sends me a photo of my artwork hanging on the wall of their home.” Any artist will tell you that he or she needs to continue to learn, and Walden remains involved in the Pastel Society of America and the Oil Painters of America. “I still attend workshops and classes, because you just can’t do this in a vacuum,” she says. “You have to be able to see the reactions of people and get feedback to fully understand what you’re doing.” For Walden, the goal is not to win awards: It’s about making sure her thoughts and impressions are being understood in the way she’d like them to be interpreted. “Of course, if I did win an award, I can hear the announcement now: ‘And in the Joyful Category, the winner is …’”
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