THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, August 21, 1994 TAG: 9408190219
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 40 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Nancy McWilliams
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines
``I feel like a child myself in some ways,'' said Kill Devil Hills' Ticia Valentine. This works to her advantage, as she has successfully merged her loves of art and children to become an art teacher.
The Gatlinburg, Tenn., native was motivated to pursue an art career because of the excellent art instruction she received in school. After graduating from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Valentine arrived on the Outer Banks two years ago to become First Flight Elementary School's art teacher.
``I didn't know what to expect,'' she said, ``but I was pleasantly surprised.''
Valentine said she enjoys the freshness and honesty that children put into their art. ``Children have excellent ideas,'' she said. ``It's really exciting to be in on the ground floor of children's creative development. I'm the first person they get a connection with as far as art. I feel responsible for getting them involved in being creative and thinking creatively.''
Her philosophy is to expose the young children to as many different forms of art as possible. ``I try to touch on everything,'' she said.
Teaching art takes energy and a fresh mind ready to adapt to new ideas, Valentine stated. ``If you're not ready to adapt, the child's creativity could be stifled.''
Good organizational skills are another necessity for art teachers, she said.
A challenge is working with children who think they can't do something. ``That's the hardest barrier to cross,'' she said. She discourages children from saying, ``I can't,'' and asks them to instead ask for help.
When she's not teaching school, Valentine likes to pursue art on her own terms. She paints strikingly in big haunting pictures worthy of study. Watercolor is her medium of choice because of the brilliance of the colors. ``I like the transparency and the layering,'' she said.
``Color is the most important element of my artwork,'' she added.
Her abstract-style paintings are inspired by nature and her childhood, and feature amorphous, organic shapes in bright colors.
One series portrays a playground in three paintings called Swingset, Slide and Monkey Bars, brought about by Valentine's recollections of childhood fears.
In another set she painted a scene in black and white and then painted it with color to ``experiment with what color does when it hits the paper.''
She has entered her work in several shows since coming to this area, including the Icarus 93 exhibition and a recent show of hang gliding art. In her Icarus piece, she used overlapping newspaper to make Icarus's wings three-dimensional.
Entering these theme-type shows has definitely had an effect on her work, she said, and she hopes to continue placing her paintings in as many shows as possible.
She is finding that doors are opening for her, as she has begun doing commercial T-shirt designs along hang gliding and parasailing themes.
To become more productive artistically is what this 25-year-old artist would like.
She'd also like to do story book illustrations. ``I'm getting more comfortable with teaching and making time for my own artwork.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DREW C. WILSON
Ticia Valentine arrived on the Outer Banks two years ago to become
First Flight Elementary's art teacher.
by CNB