Each Picture Tells a
Story
SeaTac-based illustrator, political cartoonist
and caricaturist, Valerie Gower, describes the production of each piece of
art as being “like writing a script for a short film -- the plot, the
characters, the background and the storyboard all require careful
development.”
Gower’s interest in drawing began at age five. Her interest in politics also
began at a very early age. Breakfast time was family time and it was a time
of intellectual stimulation. At breakfast, Gower’s father, a shipping
company manager with a photographic memory, would read the morning newspaper
with his two children and then would quiz them regarding current events.
This early connection between art, intellectual pursuit and politics, has
allowed Gower to be very observant. As a result her artwork incorporates
careful attention to detail.
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In junior high a teacher
provided Gower with instruction in oil painting and encouraged her to enter
her first art contest. Also at about this time, Gower realized that she
liked illustration, especially Norman Rockwell’s work, more than fine art. Although illustration often must be produced under tight time constraints,
Gower likes that it always has a clear purpose in addition to creating a
feeling.
Upon graduating from high school, Gower followed family tradition and went
to Oregon State University where her father wanted her to study the
sciences. Her art continued there as she created 44 portraits for her
sorority sisters.
Strongly drawn to the arts, she transferred after one year to University of
California Santa Barbara to major in fine art. Here her professors described
her as “extraordinarily talented”. Subsequently, work, marriage, and
parenting caused Gower to lay aside her art for seven years.
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Then Gower began a career in
illustration. Her first illustration work involved drawing two pillows for
Fred Meyer’s. This work was followed by numerous illustrations for Meier &
Frank, Bergman’s, Pay & Save, Nordstrom's, the Bon, and many other department
stores in the Portland and Seattle area.
Gower’s first cartoon work was for The Beacon, a weekly newspaper in Ocean
Shores, Washington. Through this work, Gower discovered that she wanted to
learn more about cartooning.
While in the Los Angeles area, Gower studied under Disney animators at
California Arts. Next she studied computer animation in Bellevue,
Washington.
In 1992 Bev Cheney (the Seattle based talent manager and agent who
“discovered” Brendon Frazier and James Caviezel) saw Gower’s cartoons and
referred her to Los Angeles based talent manager, Barbara Wilmott. Wilmott
then connected Gower to the Seattle Times where her political cartoons have
been
published.
Today Gower continues
to divide her time between illustration, political cartooning and caricature
and portrait work. She regularly produces fashion illustrations for
forty-year old Bensons, Fashions, Inc. (woman in purple dress above) in Des
Moines and she does episodic illustrations for many other area businesses
such as a caricature based logo she has just produced for Holcomb Computer
Consulting. She also has multiple political cartoons in development each
week and yet makes time for caricature and portrait work at private parties
for Seattle area employers such as IKEA, Microsoft and Virginia Mason and at
local events such as SeaFair and the Strawberry Festival.
Having already created over 1,000 portraits and caricatures and many
illustrations and cartoons, Gower’s passion for creating art drives her on
to continue to hone her craft and to seek new opportunities for making even
more.
For more information, please call Gower at 206-550-1778.
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