Biography

Valerie Johnson -Flying Cow Creations

As a former “Army brat” and military wife, Valerie has moved from place to place most of her life. Settled now in Smithfield, Virginia, she works primarily in felted fiber art.

Since an early age Valerie has always been involved in artistic endeavors. The experience of constantly moving and the changes of environment, people, ideas, and circumstances have been expressed in the variety of media in which she has worked. Her family has said she has creative attention deficit issues, but she says that there are just too many cool crayons in the box not to try them all.

Valerie earned a B.S. degree in Landscape Architecture from Purdue University. She was a resident artist for two years at the Smithfield Cultural Art center, and has participated and won some awards at various art shows in the tidewater area. She most recently had a solo show at the Dare County Art Council, in Manteo NC. Her work can be seen in shops in Yorktown, Suffolk, Smithfield, Norfolk, and Manteo NC. You can see her work online at www.flyingcowcreations.com. Currently she is a juried Virginia Artisan with the Artisan Center of Virginia.

Felting is Valerie’s focus because it allows her to immerse herself in a medium that encompasses sculpture, painting, art, craft, costuming, and whimsy. She likes the challenge of working in different mediums and incorporating new ideas and concepts into her art. Valerie may begin a felted project that starts as a “painting”, evolves into a sculpture, and in the end is realized as a piece of costuming. She feels that these kinds of zigs and zags require a pretty good sense of humor, which leads to the whimsy often seen in her work.