Artist Spotlight: Val-o-rie

You know you’re a gifted artist when you can make a brightly colored, fun image of marine life into something about STDs.  And this week’s Artist Spotlight features an artist who did just that.   This week we’re spotlighting Val-o-rie, who’s work can be found on PigSpigot or on her personal site.

We love the sense of humor this NYC resident brings to her craft–and that her humor often crosses the PC-line with little regard for an inner-sensor of any kind. We caught up with Val-o-rie and asked her all about her art.  Here’s what she had to say:

What inspires your work?
My work is inspired from lots of things. Sometimes it’s an animal, or a quote, or a dream, or just a tangent of my imagination.

What’s your favorite kind of greeting card to receive?
My favorite cards to receive are those slightly offensive ones that make you wonder if the sender actually likes you or not. As long as it inspires a hearty guffaw I like it.

What’s your favorite kind of card to send?
I like to send cards like that too, where you mail it off or push send and then you think, “Oh wait, I hope they know I’m not being rude.” Is there a line between rude and funny, or is being rude funny?

What is the last card you received / sent?
I recently sent a card to a friend that said something semi-offensive about her drinking at breakfast. See what I mean? Is that rude or funny to joke about potential alcoholism?

Where do you do your best work?
I do my best work at my art desk at least 3 feet from my computer, phone, pets, or any other device that would allow me to piddle.

What’s your favorite medium and why?
Most of my illustration is drawn by hand and then scanned into my computer where I digitally ink it in Illustrator and Photoshop. This is my favorite mainly for the command+Z function. Every I screw up I can just command+Z and it’s like it never happened. If only life had command+Z.

Where are you located?
I live in New York City proper. None of that Brooklyn or borough stuff for me.

Where can people find your art for purchase?
All of the art on my website (val-o-rie.com) can be purchased in any size on canvas or paper, or the illustrations can be made into greeting cards (obvi), t-shirts, tote bags, etc.

What’s your favorite pork product?
I really like the card about Halloween that says “Halloween is for kids. What the hell are you doing?” I’d like to say that to so many creepy adults on Halloween.

Normally this feature goes up on Friday.  But pigs are lazy and slow, so we’re posting it today, one business day late.  We’re aiming to be back to our usual posting schedule this Friday!