Valerie was inspired by everything she saw, from the countryside around her, newspaper articles, photos, family and vignettes of local events. She was very drawn to this image from a Catholic Sunday Bulletin, June 1975, with an article on world famine. She first explored this theme in textiles which was the medium she was using in the 1970’s. In this work the textile figures have hollow empty faces while the begging bowls are richly golden … Continue reading Inspiration
One of the joys of sorting and ordering a lifetime of work is finding hitherto unseen gems like this. Pastel study of bathers at the beach probably late 1950’s Continue reading Sketches
This pastel study of a boy and dog is one of the earliest that we can roughly date as it is signed with Valerie’s maiden name Baxter. She married in the early sixties so this is likely  from the late fifties. Even then, when Valerie was in her early twenties, her strong graphic style and confident understanding of the human figure are evident. Continue reading Boy and Dog
In the 1970’s, during a well documented craft revival, Valerie expanded her artistic practice to include large scale textile works, many of which were commissioned as public art works. This piece was a commission for the then brand new HBF building in central Perth. It depicts oversized but recognisable local wildflowers and is a combination of knotted, woven, wrapped, stitched and sewn fibres. The piece … Continue reading Public Art
This work is from the early 1960’s when Valerie, newly married, had moved from Perth to the wheat belt of Western Australia. She depicts the desolate vegetation surrounding the salt lakes on a cloudy day, successfully  evoking the eerie soughing wind in her image of the unfolding curves of dead bark, blue shadows and the falling fence. Pastel, Framed size 64cm x 72cm, (NFS) Continue reading Salt Lands
This essay was written about my mother Valerie McDonald in 2013 some years after she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. She died in July of 2016. Mikaela Castledine Art and Family A profile of the Artist Valerie McDonald On the evening before I planned to interview my mother I watched Queen Elizabeth II give a speech in which she indicated that … Continue reading Essay
An exhibition of work by the Western Australian Artist Valerie McDonald (1933-2016) will be held in April 2107 see invitation below. Continue reading Invitation
Valerie McDonald Retrospective 