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For artist, nature is both inspiration and canvas
By JOY DAVIS-PLATT
© St. Petersburg Times, In recent years, Brooksville artist Valdora Ward has become known for her unusual canvases. Many of her paintings are done on wild turkey and peacock feathers. Driftwood and cypress knees also make ideal canvases for her wildlife paintings, she says. "I look to the wood to tell me what it has inside," said Ward, showing off a piece of cypress with the likeness of a bear painted on it. "I just bring out what is already there. I just help it along." Denim shirts and umbrellas painted with Florida wildlife are recent additions to her repertoire, and painted vines decorate the living room walls and ceiling of her 1940s Brooksville home. "No stencils are allowed in this house," says Ward, who began painting the leafy living-room mural freehand to cover a splattered ketchup stain. Pink painted wisteria greets visitors at her front door. Twin burgundy lamp shades have been painted with oversized magnolia flowers nearly real enough to draw honeybees. "Just about everything in this house is secondhand," says Ward, who prides herself on being able to turn the mediocre into magic. A stand of banana trees in the corner of Ward's dining room offsets a pair of cranes near a set of French doors. "I never know what I'm going to paint," Ward said as she turned her eye toward her blank dining-room ceiling. Although she has never taken formal art lessons, the 54-year-old Ward said she has practiced countless hours on technique. Much of the learning process is trial and error, she says. "This is just a natural talent, and it has progressed over the years," she said. "I'm still practicing and still learning." Because of a constant tremor in her hands, Ward's artistic endeavors began with large murals. She thought that scale would best suit her. "When I turned 50, I thought I wanted to do something different," said Ward, who found she could paint on a smaller scale by steadying her hands on the canvas. "Since I started painting on a smaller scale, even my murals have gotten better." Most of Ward's creations are given as gifts to friends, she says. She has a letter of thanks from President George W. Bush for the feather with an eagle painted on it that she sent to commemorate his presidency. Ward has two free exhibits in Hernando County -- at City Hall in Brooksville and as the Spring Hill Art League's Artist of the Month at the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative in Spring Hill. Mary Alice Queiros, the City Hall art gallery coordinator, said Ward's artwork is a favorite of hers. "She is very prolific," said Queiros, who helped start the City Hall art project three years ago. "She's a fine craftsperson." The City Hall exhibit includes a painted dragon along the length of a cypress knee and a 4-foot-tall piece of driftwood painted with the likeness of a Florida panther. "I just paint what I like," said Ward. "I explore my imagination." At Withlacoochee, visitors can see Ward's interpretation of a Skinwalker, a person who she says takes on the spirit of an animal. Many of her wildlife paintings are also included. Ward's artwork will be on display during business hours at the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, 10005 Cortez Blvd., in Spring Hill through the end of the month. The show at City Hall, at 201 Howell Ave. in downtown Brooksville, goes on indefinitely. If you goThe artwork of Valdora Ward is on display at two locations: the Withlacoochee River Electric Cooperative, 10005 Cortez Blvd., Spring Hill; and at Brooksville City Hall, 201 Howell Ave. Both locations are open during normal business hours, Monday through Friday. There is no admission charge for either exhibit.
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