About

About the artist

My name is Valentina Arenas and I was born in Chile, in 1985. Coming from a family of artists, with my dad a composer and my mom a dancer, I knew since kindergarten I wanted to be an artist too.

I received my Bachelor in Fine Arts in 2007 in Santiago, Chile. Right after, I traveled to Japan to research Japanese traditional art at Hokkaido University under the supervision of Prof. Hisashi Yakou. The year in Japan opened my world view, especially because I got to experience the Japanese culture in many aspects of my daily life. I understood and enjoyed the ability of Japanese people to admire nature and to give themselves time to contemplate the little things, even in their fast paced life. Their delicate art and poetry are all about perceiving the natural world. Inspired by it, I worked on a series of paintings in mixed media, dedicated to the theme of flowers, leaves, and grass that I showed in two solo exhibits on my return to Chile.

Around that time, I started teaching a Color Theory class at the University. Concurrently, I opened a studio in Santiago where I gave private drawing and painting lessons. I also produced a line of handmade products called Pinta, and my first production of pieces dedicated to animals. Initially, only dogs and cats.

In 2013 I got married, moved to California and became a mom of two girls!

Today, I remain feeling very inspired by nature. The infinite possibilities in colors and shapes as well as the natural equilibrium found in every small or big element of nature, provides me with a vast range of visual ideas to create my paintings. Not only the visual part of nature fascinate me, but also the fact that is so good for us. From the the nourishment we can get from plants when we eat them, to the positive impact of being surrounded by green environments.

Another big topic in my work is animals. I'm concerned about the way we are raising animals today, with a huge number of animals that are being raised in inhumane ways, because they are thought as products, not as beings that suffer, feel pain and express love. From the food industry, clothing, beauty products, zoos, etc., the list is long... Most of the times, the animals that I paint are those in a constant demeaning situation. I feel like painting them is a way of honoring them, and I aspire that my work promotes the dialogue about animal welfare.

Now, after settling down a bit better in the Bay Area, I have opened a studio in the beautiful Benicia. As I keep evolving as an artist and trying to find tools to contribute with my work, I feel grateful to be in contact with students that help me become a better teacher, artist and a better human.

THE Words "Pinta Libre"

In Spanish, the words Pinta Libre could translate as ‘paint freely’. The concept of freedom is very important to me as an artist and as a teacher too. Since I was little I had a strong need for creating things with my hands, especially drawings, coloring, and modeling with clay. Some of the works that I made back then, I found beautiful, but some others I definitely didn't like and were inconsistent in my point of view. But what all of those works had in common, was that while I was executing them, I was getting a great feeling of satisfaction, joyfulness and a sense of ease. There was no rush, and I was able to express myself in a way that no other activity allowed me to because it was a reflexion of who I was in a very profound way.

I truly believe that everyone has the ability to create and enjoy the execution of a piece. It's unfortunate and very common to see a decrease in the practice of drawing and painting as soon as school is over, and when we are not required to take Art anymore. It seems that the older we grow, the less confident we become at making visual representations, especially drawings. For me, it is important that my students lose that fear, and can free themselves from the apriori expectation of coming up with a masterpiece, which of course can happen too! But I think that the real value is to enjoy the process of doing freely, rather than expecting to be great beforehand. By connecting with our senses, as we work in art, and we get to observe, touch, smell and become more aware and alert, we allow ourselves to rediscover the reality and deepen our capacity of perception. And of course, the more we practice, the sooner we start achieving our artistic goals. But most importantly, it's to dare to create, enjoy the journey and lastly, see what comes out.