Val Archer facts for kids

Val Archer (born in 1946) is a British artist. She is known for her beautiful oil paintings. These paintings often show everyday objects, like fruit or flowers, arranged very carefully. This style of art is called still life.

Early Life and Education

Val Archer was born in a town called Northampton in England. Her father was an engineer, and her mother worked with books.

When she was young, Val went to art classes on Saturday mornings. These classes were taught by an artist named Henry Bird at the Northampton School for Art.

Val continued her art studies at the Manchester School of Art from 1964 to 1968. After that, she went to a very famous art school called the Royal College of Art (RCA). While at the RCA, she won a special award for painting called the Anstruther Prize in 1970. She graduated from the RCA the next year.

Career as an Artist and Teacher

After finishing her studies, Val Archer worked on different art projects. She also taught art at many colleges. She was a visiting teacher at places like the Crawford School of Art in Cork, and at Cardiff College of Art. She also taught at other well-known art schools, including Chelsea, Goldsmiths' College, Sheffield, and Wolverhampton.

Val also created art for businesses. For example, in 1982, she designed a poster for British Rail, which was a train company. In the early 1990s, she created designs for the BBC's Good Food magazine.

Exhibitions and Books

In 1989, Val Archer had her own art show in Maastricht, a city in the Netherlands. This show featured her paintings of flowers. She also had an exhibition in Germany.

Val has also illustrated and published two books about fruit and flowers. The first was called A Basket of Berries, published in 1992. The next year, she released A Basket of Apples.

Since 1998, her artwork has been shown and sold by the Chris Beetles Gallery in London. In 2006, Val Archer helped write an illustrated book about travel and food in Italy. It was called The Painter, the Cook and the Art of Cucina, and she wrote it with Anna Del Conte.