Valérie Wartelle
I am a fine artist working with fibres and textiles. My work explores the deeply rooted emotional and sensory connections we hold with nature. By reimagining the landscape using natural fibres and the ancient craft of wet felting, I invite viewers on an inquisitive journey rich in climate, texture and light. As we embrace the nurturing qualities of these materials, we discover a quiet sense of ease and place.
Brought up in France and French Polynesia, Valérie originally came to the UK to study Textile Design. Following a career as a knitwear designer, Valérie set up her art studio in 2014 in Halifax, West Yorkshire. In 2021, she received a William Parker Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) award which took her to the Netherlands to work with artist activist Claudy Jongstra. In 2022 she was invited to showcase her work at Collect, International Contemporary Craft and Design Art Fair, at Sommerset House, London. Taking the rural environment as her inspiration, Valérie creates contemplative semi-abstract artworks. These are highly textured pieces in which cloth is embedded and threads unravelled, as a painter with her brush. Fascinated by the organic qualities intrinsic to the medium, she works solely with natural materials such as wool, silk and linen fibres.
'Ghost Coast', 82 x 78 cm Merino wool, silk, linen on silk Georgette and muslin cotton base layers SOLD
'Tempo', 82 x 78 cm Merino wool, silk, linen on silk Georgette and muslin cotton base layers £1,980
'Cosmic', 58 x 68 cm, Merino wool, silk, linen on silk Georgette and muslin cotton base layers £1,220
'Hazy Rain', 58 x 68 cm, Merino wool, silk, linen on silk Georgette and muslin cotton base layers £1,220
'Hydrangea', 25 x 25 cm, Wet Felting £300
'Gray Folds', 25 x 25 cm, Wet Felting £570
'Cedar Falls' 71 x 90 cm Merino wool, silk, linen on silk Georgette and muslin cotton base layers £1,980
'Gusts #1 and 'Gusts #2'', 72 x 31 cm cm, wet felting - Merino wool, silk, linen on silk Georgette and muslin cotton base layers £700 (each) or £1,300 (both)
'Glimpses', 72 x 34 cm, wet felting - Merino wool, silk, linen on silk Georgette and muslin cotton base layers £855