Valerie continues to follow her passion at Laurel Lodge

Talented artist Valerie Chambers is continuing her love of art while living at Laurel Lodge. 

Valerie has lived at the home since August 2023 and has always had a love for art. She studied at the famous Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts in London in the 1950s, where she received a Diploma in Art from a 4 year course. She went on to teach in schools and evening classes in Buckinghamshire. She was also in the Red Cross where her husband drove the ambulances, while Valerie ran the Youth Club for children aged between 7 and 15, teaching them art in between learning their First Aid duties.

Valerie fondly remembers her time at Art School; “There were some really famous artists at the college, people like Clifford Frith, Martin Bloch – a German-Jewish artist who fled Germany in 1934 and Susan Einzig, the illustrator of children’s book Tom’s Midnight Garden. They were all such an inspiration to me. The school was heavily involved in the Festival of Britain in 1951 and there was such a buzz at the time.”

Valerie’s artwork adorns the walls of her bedroom at the care home, dominated by a large oil painting of horses at the River Yare at Harford Bridges in Norwich painted over 20 years ago. She says that she took a quick sketch of the scene which would have taken her about two hours, then the final painting would have taken around two months to complete.

These days, Valerie carries her sketch book and pencils around the home, capturing the scenes of life at the home, including portraits of other residents and staff, drawings of animals as well as colourful images of entertainers who have visited the home.

“It’s just like keeping a diary really. Pretty much every day I can always find something to draw with my pencils and pastels as there’s always lots of things going on at the home."