Oakton Nurse Displays Passion for Art at Vale Show

The annual ValeArts Fine Art Show will take place this weekend at the historic Vale Schoolhouse beginning 10 a.m. Friday.

Nine artists are being exhibited in the show, with seven permanent members and two guests on display. One of those is Oakton artist H. Jenna Klimchak, one of the founders of the group when it started in 1996.

"We were all taking a class with Oakton artist Laura Bailey and we were doing this for 2 to 3 years and decided to start ValeArts and have our own show," Klimchak said. "We invited some other local artists, trying to focus on people in the Oakton area—and we began with 10 of us."

Fifteen years later, ValeArts has grown to include artists from Reston, Springfield and all around Fairfax, and now two shows are held every year. 

At the show, Klimchak will be displaying some semi-abstracts, collages, drawings and figures, offering a wide variety of her artwork.

"I mainly do mixed media and a variety of things," Klimchak said. "I use acrylic, collage, some drawing media, oils and watercolors."

Klimchak was born in Korea and grew up in an environment where there wasn't always a lot of things for children to do.

"We didn't always have a chance to play, but what we had was a piece of paper and pencils and I really enjoyed drawing," she said. "When I went to middle school, I joined an art club and started doing extra activities and started to learn oils."

Although her interest in art continued as she got older, Klimchak decided to pursue a career in nursing.

Klimchak came to the U.S. in 1978 and has been an Oakton resident for the past 25 years. She currently works part time at the Fairfax Hospital. When she's not taking care of the sick, she's tending to her painting.

"I'm always thinking about art," Klimchak said. "I get inspiration from nature, a newspaper photograph, things I see. I carry a camera with me all the time, and from time to time, I review the photographs to look for something that interests me."

Up until a few months ago, Klimchak had an art studio in Great Falls, but now works out of a small studio in her home and invites people in from time to time to view her art.

"There are a lot of older paintings here so when people come in they can see how I progressed through the years," she said. "When I studied, I did watercolors first and started to evolve. I went to Corcoran and had a great teacher in William Christenberry. Now, I work with Steve Kushner, and I do critique with him once a month."

On her days off, Klimchak loves to go into her studio in the morning after her coffee, and listens to NPR or classical music as she works. Art is both her passion and her way of escape from the day-to-day world.

"I have a hard time articulating what I want to express with the language barriers. I have been living here for over 30 years and at this point, I am not fluent in Korean or English, but painting can express feelings and I can articulate better," she said. "When I am doing art, I can be someone else I wish I was. That's what I like. It can transport you to whatever and wherever you wish to be."

The ValeArts Fine Art Show will run 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Vale Schoolhouse.