I can’t believe how fast the years fly by! It was on this very day 10 years ago when I met my future husband, Jeff. We had corresponded for a few days via Match.com. We had each joined the dating site just the week prior. On paper he had everything I was looking for. Tall and good looking: check. Athletic and healthy: check. Educated and smart: check. Good job and stable: check. Relatively normal: check. Hair: Well... you can't everything.

We set a casual Thursday night date to meet for a glass of wine at one of my favorite restaurants, Michi’s in Manhattan Beach. When I arrived he was waiting outside and very well dressed. The date went so well he invited me to stay for dinner and the dinner lasted 4 hours until we were the last to leave the restaurant! I was not disappointed and everything on his profile was true and more. Did I mention he is very neat, incredibly generous, does all the laundry and even opens doors (including car doors) for me? We’ve been together ever since and married a year later. Jeff is my rock and I wouldn’t be pursuing my dream of art without his limitless support. I love you!

P.S. I forgot to mention it was the best $25 I ever spent for 1 month membership on match!!

My grandmother, Socorro del Rosario Valencia was the most influential person in my life. She inspired me to cook, sew, be a lady, take care of my skin, appreciate traveling the world, and most importantly to pursue my career in art.

This photo of my grandmother was taken on a trip to New York sometime in the 1960s. She dressed so lady-like in a fitted suit, pearls and mink stole.

This is one of my grandmother's paintings. She loved flowers so painted them frequently plus other subjects she loved. She was a self taught artist so the style is naïve but charming. She signed her paintings as "Coring", her Filipino nickname, short for Socorro.  

She passed away on February 21, 1983, 30 years ago today. I miss her so much.

Skins are lightweight removable decals for phones, tablets, laptops, cameras and gaming devices.  They are die cut to the exact shape for over 500 models, covering front, back and sides and leaving holes where there are important openings for lens and speakers. Most of the configurations come with matching screensavers that match up with the decal for a seamless look. They protect your device from scratches.

The best benefit of all is that they “dress up” your device so that it is unique to your taste. Why go basic black when you can have a floral design for Spring, a beach theme for Summer, a new fashion color scheme for Fall and possibly a fun holiday design as it nears the holidays. Don’t blend in with everyone else when you can pop! They are conversation starters whenever you pull out your device whether at a party or the grocery store.

Even if you choose another hard case which generally cover the back and sides of your  phone or tablet, you can still use a skin for the front frame with the matching wallpaper.

Starting at only $9.99, Decal Girl skins are so modestly priced that you could go for a monthly wardrobe to celebrate different occasions and seasons. They now offer high quality slim hard cases for select phones to match for the low price of $19.99. This is substantially lower compared to many other brands featuring Indie artwork as seen on competitors such as Society 6 ($35.00), GelaSkins ($34.95) or Zazzle ($44.95).

DecalGirl

The first major art project I can remember was single-handedly making the promotional bulletin board for the school’s book fair. I was in kindergarten and it was supposed to be a project produced by the entire class. The other students quickly lost interest and I ended up spending days doing all the work myself even staying after school several times to meet the deadline. It was a 3’ x 10’ scene of students buying books at the fair. It was made of entirely of colored yarn glued to the paper background. I remember the faces were spirals of yarn. My mother thought it was fascinating that I took on this project on my own and worked so hard on it. She just got a glimpse of my future work ethic. 

DecalGirl (DG):  You have a number of artists in your family.  What kind of influence and support did they provide you as your career as an artist developed?

Debra Valencia (DV):  My grandmother was the most influential person in my life, not only inspiring me as an artist, but I shared her passions for cooking, sewing, traveling and fashion. She was an amateur fine artist, painting scenes and still life oils. She never sold a painting—as this was her hobby.  My parents really did not support my desire to pursue art as a career because they just didn’t think it was practical or a real job—they only thought of it as a hobby.

So instead of heading off to fashion design school as I wanted, I entered my local community college with no particular major in mind. I took all the general academic courses and considered various career paths such as linguistics and biology but nothing got me excited.

In my second year, I took a drawing class just as a fun elective and my art teacher was surprised that I wasn’t majoring in art. She suggested I try the Visual Communications, department which I did. The next semester I took a class called Introduction to Advertising Design and from there I knew design was for me. I completed my two-year degree in Advertising Design and landed a job as a designer at an ad agency. I spent one year working full-time and it was great experience.

By then, my parents could see that it was possible to earn a living with my artistic talents, so I then pursued my BFA in Graphic Design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. I’m happy to say that my son is following in my footsteps and is an Illustration major at California College of Art in San Francisco.

DG:  Your art is featured on a variety of products.  Are there any particular types of products that you enjoy designing for, more than others?  Are there any that are more challenging to design for than others?

DV:  My favorite product to design is fabric for quilting. Quilting collections typically have 6 to 12 coordinating designs of different scales and colors. So it is fun to design because it’s somewhat like coming up with a collage of prints. There is a new generation of crafters who take the quilt fabrics and make creative projects such as messenger bags and aprons in addition to quilts. I sewed a lot as a young girl and teenager so I understand sewing. Although I don’t have time to sew any longer, I really enjoy seeing what people make with my fabrics. I love designing it all to be honest: dinnerware, jewelry, tech cases and more. I hope to someday have an entire home décor line including rugs, upholstery fabrics and wallpaper as well as personal accessories such as cosmetic bags, handbags and apparel.

DG:  What media do you work in?  Is there any medium that you prefer over others?

DV:  My favorite medium is watercolor but I use it in a nontraditional way. I draw out my designs in pencil very accurately and figure out my repeat patterns. I paint the designs using a very strong intensity of liquid watercolors. So my style is not the loose, washy style that most people think of as watercolors. It’s my graphic design training that, forces me to work precisely. I also work a lot on the computer because it is faster and I like to work fast and furiously. I design many of my geometric and ethnic-inspired prints in vector art but coordinate some of these with my hand painted motifs,  which I retouch in Photoshop

DG:  What artist or artists do you feel have had the greatest influence on your style?

DV:  My main influences are ethnic craftsman traditions from around the world including textile arts and architectural ornamentation. I’ve traveled a lot and spent many days shopping in markets in Morocco, Thailand, India, Japan, Italy, Mexico and more places than I can name here and shot a lot of photos of buildings, tiles and even doorknobs. I also love fashion so other influences also include designers like Pucci and specific eras like the hippie 60s, and even rock ‘n roll clothing.

DG:  You are quite active in working with art students and various community organizations.  What is the most satisfying aspect of being involved with these groups?

DV:  I love teaching and working with art students and collaboration in general. I taught part-time for 13 years at Otis College of Art & Design in the graphic design department. I am currently a guest lecturer at Art Center College of Design. I am also teaching seminars on the Business of Art Licensing to other fine artists, illustrators, graphic designers and photographers.

DG:  Your bio says that you “find solace” in yoga, walking on the beach, and hikes through the mountains. Do these activities provide you with ideas and inspiration, or do they serve more to clear your mind and help you focus on current projects?

DV:  My main goal is to keep healthy and stay in shape. I think it is important to feel good both physically and mentally and to take care of the body. I’m a bit of a health nut—at least 80% of the time. It makes me feel strong and gives me a lot of energy. I really use the exercise time to clear my head and not think about work. It’s good to get out of the studio, get fresh air and move my limbs. Then when I do get back to work, I can really hit it hard, sometimes working for 12 hours straight.

DG:  How did you get connected to DecalGirl?  What skins do you currently have on your devices?

DV:  My artwork is currently licensed with approximately 25 companies for products including fabric, greeting cards, stationery, ceramic gifts, back to school supplies, jewelry and more. I’m always looking to expand into new categories so I contacted Decal Girl via the artist submissions link on the website. Lucky for me, Linda Castillon, SVP  of Licensing was already familiar with my work! She personally owns two Joolz Hayworth bracelets and was a fan of the jewelry line.

I currently have a Mia skin on my laptop, the Kyoto skin on my iPad and the Bombay skin on my iPhone.

DG:  Suppose the DecalGirl staff decides to take a vacation at your home in Costa Rica.  What should we be sure to do while we are there?

DV:  Well, I hope you all do! Let’s go for a creative brainstorming retreat. For all first time visitors to Costa Rica, I highly recommend a visit to the Arenal Volcano which is in a pristine rainforest area with fabulous hot springs, zip lines and a beautiful lake. Then hit the beach where my house is. Must-do activities: a daily swim, surfing lessons, catamaran sailing/snorkeling trip, yoga at the beach, cocktails at sunset at any of many restaurants along the beach and of course, lots of R&R.

From the age of five, I remember dreaming of living on a tropical island. I would draw pictures of myself dancing in a hula skirt with water and palm trees in the background and sometimes as a mermaid in the ocean. I don’t know where I came up with this idea since I had never been to an island. I lived in the heart of the city in Washington, D.C. surrounded by buildings and concrete playgrounds. Yet, I would draw the same images over and over again, sometimes on paper and other times with colored chalk on the sidewalk. Perhaps the craving for the tropics was in my blood since my father was born in the Philippines, a country comprised of 7,002 idyllic islands.