Valerie Berlage

"Born and raised in Western North Carolina, I helped my grand­fa­ther in his wood­work­ing shop as a child and learned tradi­tional South­ern hand­crafts and paint­ing from my grand­moth­ers. Close ties to my family and a love of the moun­tains kept me in WNC even after earning a BFA and K‑12 teach­ing licen­sure from UNC-Asheville. After working for a local crafts­man for a number of years, I enrolled in the Profes­sional Crafts Program at Haywood Commu­nity College and began focus­ing solely on wood­work­ing. While my art has gone through several tran­si­tions over the years, it has remained rooted in my rela­tion­ship with my loved ones, so much so that I named my studio after my two grand­moth­ers. As a real home is built piece by piece, my work is created layer by layer out of wood and paint."

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