Hello. I'm Valery. Creator / Owner / Proprietor of all things, Broken Toyland.
I've been creating art since I could hold a pencil or crayon. It's my passion. My need to create is like needing air to breathe. It's that vital.
I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where I lived most of my life. I moved to Poland in 1996, then back so soCal in 1998. In 2009, I moved to New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment, where I currently reside.
I love doing paintings on canvas or wood, creating folk art rag dolls and other soft sculpture. As well as custom cut wood paintings and painted branches. I have no limits :)
I do commissions as well.
I've been doing my art full time, since about 1992-93. Had many ups and downs, trying to make a living at it. I also suffer from ptsd, so this is perfect for me. I guess you could call me an 'outsider artist'. And I was doing pretty good, relying only on myself for sales, with the use of social media. Up until certain social media platforms began blocking posts and censoring. After 3 years of struggling really hard with that, trying to regain the lost momentum, income and degree of sales, I decided to finally start using my patreon acct, to help make ends meet.
If you're interested in knowing more about my art and creative adventures, go to brokentoyland.com and clicking on the patreon link, where there is an introduction, some videos and of course, art :)
If you have any questions at all, please feel free to email me.
...valery