Valerie Mangion         

Oil on panel 43 1/2" x 53 1/2" 2016

Oil on panel 43 1/2" x 53 1/2" 2016

Oil on panel 36" x 36" 2012-2013 In May, 2012, I developed a severe case of Bell's Palsy after blowing into CPR dummies for 2 1/2 hours during a work-related training class. I have never been so sick in my life. It was months before I could paint again. Once again, my challenge: Can I do a beautiful painting of really ugly subject matter, in this case, unfortunately, my face? Painting my damaged face so large and in YOUR face helped me cope with the psychological aspects of having B.P.

Oil on panel 36" x 36" 2013

Oil on panel 24" x 24" 2011 This painting expresses how I feel every summer, when I'm buried under the weight of horse care. My art life, represented by cloud berets, floats out of reach while I double down on horse care. My horses, Rabbit, Dewey and Rocky, are symbolized in the points of the pyramid. The center image is the bottom of a horse's hoof.

Oil on panel 14" x 14" 2005

Oil on panel 24" x 24" 2005 I love all our pets, but sometimes the togetherness and their neediness get to be a bit much. The second I sit on the sofa at night, I am trapped under cats and dogs. The monkey-sock doll is an homage to Frida Kahlo, who painted herself with her pet monkeys. I love her work. I also love monkey-sock dolls and have made several myself.

Oil on panel 24" x 24" 2005 Boomerang, our sweet, misunderstood dog.

Oil on panel 28" x 26" 2002

Oil on panel 36" x 36" 2001 My mother died in 1999. To help myself cope, using money she left me, I realized a life-long dream by buying my first horse, a 6-mo. old foal I named Rabbit. I didn't know what I was doing, couldn't control him, got injured repeatedly, etc. In this image, I'm recuperating from a massive "playful" kick to my thigh. I loved that Rabbit gave me a concrete, physical symbol of my emotional state - thus the inside/outside visual dichotomy.

Oil on panel 36" x 36" 2001

Oil on panel 42" x 48" 1999 Another painting about my mother's death. Those are mammatus clouds in the background - the clouds that look like breasts, that warn of an impending storm.

Oil on panel 42" x 48" 1999

Oil on panel 24" x 24" 1999 (sold) We found this stray kitten on the Elroy-Sparta bike trail. He was barely surviving on a diet of grasshoppers. Elroy is over 15 years old now and he's still my baby. Those are more mammatus clouds in the background.

Oil on panel 48 1/8" x 48 1/8" 1998

Oil on panel 48 1/8" x 48 1/8" 1998

Simply Die Too Fast Oil on panel diptych 13 7/8" x 19 5/8" 1996

Rat, They Simply Die Too Fast Oil on panel diptych 13 7/8" x 19 5/8" 1996

Rat, They Simply Die Too Fast Oil on panel diptych 13 7/8" x 19 5/8" 1996

Oil on panel 23 7/8" x 23 7/8" 1995 I was horrified after learning that my frail, arthritic mother fell while taking out garbage, in February, without a coat, and broke her leg. My sister lived across the street from her. My niece, about five at the time, casually said, "Why is Gramma lying in the driveway?"as they drove by an hour later, thus saving her life. I had my mother's pink-wrapped cast in my studio for more than a decade.

Oil on panel 47 3/4" x 47 3/4" 1995 I did this in the first couple years after finishing graduate school. The plight of the artist is: too many artists competing over too few resources. Here, I'm shrinking back from the insane rush of competition among my artist friends, preferring to hide in a tree rather than emerge from my safe (but poisonous) cocoon. I took a sewing class right after getting my MFA. I'm wearing a vest I made as an identifier in this painting.

Oil on panel 6" x 6" 1994

Hanging Over My Head Oil on panel 24" x 24" 1994 (sold) I know the reasons people give to support the annual deer slaughter (not "harvest") - I reserve my right to hate everything about it.