About Me
My name is Valerie Mahoney and I am the sole owner and artist here at Pets In Pastels. Drawing has always been a part of me, whether I realized it or not, and has impacted my life almost as much as horses. I began riding horses after receiving riding lessons for my 5th birthday. That was the beginning of a lifelong passion and the end of my parents' suburban lifestyle. After 17 years, 8 horses, and countless horse shows, my riding career and love for the equine species is still going strong. From the very start, riding leadline on a pony named Toot at Fox Hollow Farms, to my present days at Coventry Equestrian Center learning the lifelong discipline of dressage, I've come to truly understand the quote by Ralph Emerson, "Riding a horse is not a gentle hobby, to be picked up and laid down like a game of Solitaire. It is a grand passion."
When I'm not in the stable I'm sitting in from of my easel. As the daughter of an art teacher and granddaughter to a second career artist, I was always destined to be surrounded by art. I've made attempts with every medium but my favorites have always been those that I can smudge and smear with my hands. While I do not shy away from paint, I prefer graphite, pastel, and charcoal. It wasn't until my senior year of college that I had my first real taste of clay and throwing it on the wheel. In the future I would love to own my own wheel and outdoor kiln to continue my experience with raku pottery. Throughout my years as an artist there has always been a theme of, as if you haven't already guessed, horses. A year ago, nearing the end of my undergraduate education, I began to mix my two passions in a new way and Pets In Pastels was born. I believe my love for animals, especially horses, allows me to capture their personality in each portrait. I pride myself in knowing that when an owner receives a commissioned work that I have, to the best of my ability, captured the essence of their pet in art.
When I'm not in the stable I'm sitting in from of my easel. As the daughter of an art teacher and granddaughter to a second career artist, I was always destined to be surrounded by art. I've made attempts with every medium but my favorites have always been those that I can smudge and smear with my hands. While I do not shy away from paint, I prefer graphite, pastel, and charcoal. It wasn't until my senior year of college that I had my first real taste of clay and throwing it on the wheel. In the future I would love to own my own wheel and outdoor kiln to continue my experience with raku pottery. Throughout my years as an artist there has always been a theme of, as if you haven't already guessed, horses. A year ago, nearing the end of my undergraduate education, I began to mix my two passions in a new way and Pets In Pastels was born. I believe my love for animals, especially horses, allows me to capture their personality in each portrait. I pride myself in knowing that when an owner receives a commissioned work that I have, to the best of my ability, captured the essence of their pet in art.