Former Teacher Opens River Hills Art Studio

As more and more schools cut their arts budgets to save money, a former teacher is helping to fill the gap by offering arts classes at her storefront studio.

Located at 4381 Lynx Paw Trail, Valrico, across from Lithia Springs Elementary School, Artrageous is a work in progress for owner Shelly Valdez.

She currently offers art classes for ages 2 to 13. In addition, she's reaching out to middle school students who have an artistic flair as well as senior citizens who might want to explore a previously hidden talent.

Valdez, whose mother was an artist, said she can't remember a time she wasn't drawing or painting.

"Art was a big part of my life," she said. "My dad even let me paint on the walls."

In addition to pursuing her own award-winning art, Valdez went on to become an art teacher. She taught for 11 years at Valrico, Gibsonton and Lithia Springs elementary schools then took seven years off from teaching to raise her children, now 8, 10 and 12 years old. From 2000 to 2004 she operated a mural-painting business but was forced to quit when she injured her neck.

"I went back to teaching in 2006 and would still be teaching art but they kept cutting the programs," said Valdez. "The kids just weren't getting enough art. They'd just start drawing and have to put down their pencils after 10 minutes."

Convinced that art is an integral part of the learning experience, Valdez decided to start Artrageous as a way to give children the exposure to art they were no longer getting in school.

"I had parents asking me for art lessons for their children because they weren't getting enough at school," said Valdez. "I realized there was a big need."

She opened Artrageous July 14, inviting children to paint designs on one wall of her studio as part of her grand opening celebration.

"MY summer programs were instantly full," said Valdez. "In fact, I had a waiting list and had to create more classes."

Her vision is to offer art classes for all ages, from mommy and me classes for ages 2, 3 and 4 to classes for senior citizens.

"I cater to the school schedule, offering classes for elementary children after school from 3 to 4:15 p.m. and from 1:45 to 2:45 p.m. on early-release Mondays," she said. "Parents just drop their kids off after school."

She also offers classes geared to home-schooled students. A class for ages 5 to 7 is held Thursday from 10 to 11 a.m. and another for ages 8 to 13 takes place Thursday from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Learning painting and drawing techniques is an important part of her curriculum.

"I really like to have the kids paint on canvasses because it means so much more to them than simply painting on paper," said Valdez.

But that's only one of the projects children participate in. Her students have created fiber art, painted tiki masks, made water bottle sculptures and created figures with plaster paris and clay.

"I want them to realize that art can be created from anything," she said. "And you don't have to spend a lot of money on art supplies."

On Tuesday, from 10 a.m. to noon, Valdez offers a Mom's Day Out where mothers of children 3 to 6 years old and drop their children off for two hours of creativity.

"We do all kinds of fun things like splat ball art and fill squirt guns with paint to create colorful paintings," she said. "The kids love it."

The mommy and me classes incorporate a story time and then an art project based on the story they read.

A class on Friday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. is geared to children age 5 to 7 who have a penchant for drawing and painting animals. A Wednesday class from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. is for children 8 to 12 who love drawing and painting animals.

"Kids just love to draw animals, so this is always a popular class," said Valdez.

And a Thursday class from 3 to 4:15 p.m. focuses on cartooning and 3-D drawing, including creating comic strips with pen and ink, colored pencils and markers.

"They also learn about shading and perspective to make their drawings look real," said Valdez.

In the Young Masters class, for ages 5 to 7, held Mondays from 3 to 4:15 p.m., students learn to copy the work of famous artists.

"We learn about various artists and discover techniques they used long ago," said Valdez.

And Mondays from 4:45 to 5:45 p.m. are Middle School Mondays.

"Some kids in this age group do not have the opportunity to explor art once they enter middle school," said Valdez. "In this class, we will learn basic drawing and painting techniques. The students get to choose the subject matter and we design the class according to what they want to learn about."

For more information, call 813-438-8917, email shelly@getARTrageous.com or visit www.getartrageous.com.