Born and raised in Altoona, Pa., Fred Vallade
was drawn to the City of New York
at the age of 19. He spent the
next 30 years in and around the New
York area (Long Island and Connecticut).
In 1993, he decided to relocate
to the Outerbanks of North Carolina
in Duck with his every inspiring
wife.
I have been interested in the arts all my
life, however, it wasn't until
reaching NYC that I was really able and
inspired to pursue my desire to
paint, create and express myself through my
work.
I have worked in acrylics as well as graphics.
I painted in acrylics for several
years, however, my discovery of
a new meaning of art through graphics
was a new found fulfillment to
me of a desire to communicate
one's personal convictions.
Being an artist, influenced by the pulse beat of our time, you have to be ever searching and experimenting to be able to impart one's personal feelings to a receptive public. Graphic art is another form of expression in the vocabulary of an artist, however, in contemporary graphic art there is a living and exciting movement.
Printmaking as a medium has been a truly unique and rewarding experience for me. It has provided a wealth of new materials and techniques that only modern technology made possible.
The move to the Outerbanks of NC was a new beginning for us and with that I decided I needed a new direction in my art career and CLAY was chosen and a new adventure had begun. My daughter Karen who has a degree in ceramic arts was an influence.
The need to create inspires me to spontaneously build in clay. Some days, the clay is pounded. Some days, the clay is calmly plied. I don't approach clay the same way twice. For me, artistic development is leaving the safety of familiar methods and discovering the elation of new techniques. I try to be flexable in my approach, both with the clay and in my vision, and to embrace the unpredictable. What clay is and what it can do are questions that I need to examine and hope to never find the answer.
Fred studied at the Art Students League of
New York under Michael Ponce de Leon
and also with Mildred Landau Pawl,
Paul Gatto, Marion Oken and Donn
Steward (master printer). He is basicly
self taught in the clay media.
He exhibits extensively throughout the New
England and Mid Atlantic area having
won recognition and numerous awards.
His works are represented in numerous
corporate and private collections
throughout the USA, in Puerto Rico,
Bermuda, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Paris
and England.
Fred has conducted printmaking and ceramic
workshops at his studio.
I feel it appropriate to paraphase T.S.
Eliot by saying - "I feel it unnecessary to explain art, a process which too often results in explaining it away".
Personally I'd rather not speak of my work
or myself (to me one and the same). I feel
one is what one does and what one does is the
statement of who one is.
FRED VALLADE
DUCK POTTERY
102 Flight Drive
Duck NC 27949-4411
215-261-6697