Painting prodigy

At 10 years old, painter Valerie Schwade is making a name for herself in the local art world.

The Glendale resident’s works have been featured as prizes in fundraisers for New Horizons and Holy Family Church in Glendale and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

Valerie’s artistic ability is incredible for her age, said Linda Gaul, manager of senior care services at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center and Providence Holy Cross Medical Center.

“She’s done some wonderful still-lifes,” Gaul said. “She’s so versatile. I was so amazed at her technique and depth of her abilities for being so young, and she’s a charming child.”

Valerie also designed the cover art for a promotional campaign for the Friends of the Gene Autry National Center’s ninth annual gala, “Boots, Belts and Beyond” on April 23.

“I never thought I’d be doing something for the Autry because it’s such a famous museum,” she said.

She is the first youngster to receive the Larry Gluck Artistic Freedom Award from Larry Gluck’s Mission: Renaissance, the art school she attends.

She’s receiving that award for the volunteer time she spends teaching art to senior adults at Elms Convalescent Hospital and Case de Glendale Retirement Center in Glendale, said Jasmin Zimmatore, vice president for public relations at Mission: Renaissance.

“She was nominated and selected because when most children her age are involved in other activities, like karate, soccer, baseball, she’s decided to use her time to bring the beauty of creativity to people who need it most,” Zimmatore said.

One of Valerie’s students at Elms is 105 years old and another student is 104, Zimmatore said.

At those advanced ages, people lose their motor skills, she said.

“But by using the Gluck method, they are able to hold a brush properly and really have nice products,” Zimmatore said.

Past recipients of the Artistic Freedom award are Lonnie Lardner, a former reporter for Fox News, who gives time teaching art to inner city youth; and Ted Prescott, president of Mission: Renaissance, who has increased the network of the organization.

“I think it’s very special because not every 10-year-old gets the Artistic Freedom Award,” Valerie said.

In the senior art classes, she teaches different techniques with watercolor and suggests what colors look best for what subjects, Valerie said.

“The thing I like best is seeing the smiles on the faces when I come through the door,” she said. “They are friendly to me. It’s nice to be around them.”

Valerie’s students at Elms Convalescent Hospital range in age from 79 to 105, administrator Dolores Diehl said.

“She’s everyone’s grandchild here,” Diehl said. “Some can’t hold the crayons or paint brush and she helps them do the painting. They enjoy it and it looks pretty and we put it on the wall.”

Valerie’s mother, Patty Schwade, said she knew early on that her daughter had a great talent for art. At 3, she would sit for two hours doodling, Patty Schwade said.

“It was unusual because children usually at that age move from one thing to another after five minutes,” she said.

As Valerie grew older, her mother noticed her finite attention to every single detail, she said, and when she was 7, decided to enroll her in classes once at week at Mission: Renaissance.

She started painting pastels, went to watercolors and now works in oils, her mother said.

One of Valerie’s first paintings was of her orange tabby cat, Ted Sparkles.

That painting was auctioned off for Holy Family’s Mid Summer Night’s Cuisine fundraiser, Patty Schwade said.

Valerie also did a black-and-white charcoal drawing for a New Horizons fundraiser.

“She’s a very talented and gifted artist,” said Maria Rochart, executive director of New Horizons Family Center. “She has donated still-life paintings for our silent auction at our annual galas. Her paintings bring in between $300 and $500. She needs to know that through that donation, she is helping a lot of kids who wouldn’t have the means to come to an after-school program.”

Valerie is in the fourth grade at Holy Family Catholic School, where she has received the Artist of the Year award two years in a row, Patty Schwade said.