Sadie J. Valeri

Sadie Valeri is an award-winning classical realist painter and instructor based in San Francisco, California.
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In 2008 Sadie began a series of still life paintings using crumpled wax paper as her subject.

“I was drawn to the material because I can twist and crush the transparent paper to create dynamic environments for the antique bottles and pitchers I collect.”

After priming a wood panel with her handmade chalk ground gesso, Sadie creates a detailed contour drawing of her subject. Once the drawing is finished, she uses the traditional layering and glazing techniques developed by the 17th century Dutch masters to create her highly refined images.

Each painting requires up to ten thin layers of paint, sanding between each layer to create a glass-like surface. Sadie works on one painting at a time, and spends about a month on each painting. She creates about ten of these meticulously crafted still lifes per year. 

Sadie is committed to the aesthetic of quality-over-quantity, and her reputation as a modern master is the result.

Watch video demonstrations Sadie has made about her paintings and drawings

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