Valerie Ganz - New Paintings and Drawings

Valerie Ganz  RCA was born in Swansea and attended Swansea College of Art where she studied painting, sculpture and stained glass. She remained as a tutor until 1973 when she turned her attention to painting full time.

“St. Pauls, Millennium Night”   Oil on Paper 14” x 19”

As her interest in the landscape of South Wales grew, she was drawn towards the industrial landscape and the mining industry. In 1985 this culminated in a year at Six Bells Colliery where she set up a studio and worked alongside the miners both above and below ground.

There followed a year at the Central School of Ballet in London to develop further her interest in figurative drawing. Since then, she has made frequent visits to the Grand Theatre in Swansea, when ballet or pantomime is being presented to continue with this aspect of her work.

The age old excitement of the Big Top drew her to the Moscow State Circus. Impressed by her work on their visit to Wales, the Circus allowed her to work behind the scenes as they toured the UK.

Jazz musicians have been a subject of her work for many years. This led in Spring 1991 to a working visit to New Orleans. She has had a long association with Brecon Jazz  and will be their official artist for their Millennium 2000 Festival. Most recently, a working holiday in Cuba took her to the jazz clubs of Havana and work she produced there will be in the current exhibition.

Miners are still part of her life and visits to Tower Colliery, the only deep mine left in South Wales, form the basis of her work on this subject.

“Tomos at Tower”,   20” x 16”  oil on canvas.