Valerie is a qualified teacher, member of the Society of Botanical Artists, and Vice-President of the Northern Society for Botanical Art.  Until the year 2000, she was the Programme Director for the Diploma in Botanical Illustration at the University of Sheffield.  Her own artwork has been exhibited widely and the Royal Horticultural Society has awarded her medals for her illustrations.

Valerie is Chairman of the Florilegium Society at Sheffield Botanical Gardens, whose aim is to record the planting in the Gardens for an historical archive.  Valerie enjoys meeting and teaching students on residential courses throughout the country, she is the Art Editor of the book ‘Wild Flowers of the Peak District’, and author of the book “Botanical Illustration” published by the Crowood Press, in September 2008