5% of your purchase goes to The Nature Conservancy, working to create a world where people and nature can thrive!
5% of your purchase goes to The Nature Conservancy, working to create a world where people and nature can thrive!
Not yet, but I would love to! If you’re interested in becoming a licensing partner, please contact me at val@valeriemilo.com
Yes, I am a professional artist and my ideas come from my mind and my heart. I am happy for anyone to borrow images of my work for educational purposes! But please give me credit. I want children, aspiring artists, and art lovers to know that I chose to make art an important part of my life and they can too! And I chose to make art about things that are meaningful to me, and they can too. If you post my work on any social media sites, also please give me credit. Using images of my work to make a profit is obviously not okay and is copyright infringement. It’s important that we maintain respect for artists, their work and their ideas. Thank you!
Do you sell original paintings?
Yes, I sell my original oil paintings and watercolors. Feel free to contact me if you’re interested!
Yes! All original oil paintings and watercolors are signed by me and include a certificate of authenticity.
I take limited commissions because I am currently working on other series.
I price my work based on my education and experience as an artist and the time I put into each work. I compare my prices to other artists who do similar work. I have noticed in galleries that men generally price their work higher than women, so I make a conscious effort not to underprice my work.
I factor in the costs of production, shipping, taxes, and it was very important to me that a percentage go to a cause that inspires my work, The Nature Conservancy. I also donate the profits of special prints to certain causes that are important to me. In the end I make a very small profit from my prints that goes to support my business and my family.
Prints come with a digital signature not a handwritten signature because they are mailed direct from the printer.
My site is powered by Shopify. In Shopify I use the app, Shop For Good by DailyKarma. I set up the The Nature Conservancy as my charity of choice and after every purchase they deduct 5% to go to The Nature Conservancy. To learn more about DailyKarma https://www.dailykarma.com/about-us/about-us/
The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. Since their founding in 1951 they have protected more than 119 million acres of land and 5,000 miles of rivers worldwide and they operate more than 100 marine conservation projects globally. They have more than one million members. They work in all 50 states and more than 30 countries - protecting habitats from grasslands to coral reefs, from Australia to Alaska to Zambia. They address threats to conservation involving climate change, fire, fresh water, forests, invasive species, and marine ecosystems. They use a science-based approach, aided by our more than 500 staff scientists, and we pursue non-confrontational, pragmatic solutions to conservation challenges.
They have a rating of 4 stars and 96% on Charity Navigator and they are a BBB accredited charity.
I spent several years sampling different printing companies. I settled on Gooten and Art of Where. Gooten prints and manufactures their products in the USA and UK. Art of Where is based in Montreal, Canada and ships from Montreal and New York. I chose these companies because of the quality of their prints. I wanted to be able to provide beautiful and meaningful products for my customers.
Yes! These were important factors when I was choosing printing companies. Gooten and Prodigi and Art of Where have programs in place with their vendors to tackle environmental waste and sustainability concerns. Their vendors require that their paper and canvas frames come from responsibly forested land and all ink is water-based. They support internal recycling programs that reduce production waste. Metal prints and ornaments are made of 100% recycled aluminum. Art of Where manufactures and sources locally to reduce their carbon footprint, their paper waste is recycled in the city and excess clothing items or imperfect garments are donated to inner-city shelters. Their employees are paid fair wages. All of their wood is sourced from sustainable forests in Canada and Europe and bought in bulk to reduce transport. Packaging is made from recycled materials.
FSC Certification
I try to choose manufacturers that are FSC Certified or who source their pulp from sustainably managed forests. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests. The FSC system allows businesses and consumers to identify, purchase and use wood, paper and other forest products made with materials from well-managed forests and/or recycled sources. https://www.fsc-uk.org/en-uk
OEKO-TEX Certification
All cotton sateen fabric is made in a factory with OEKO-TEX Certification for standardized and safe working conditions. https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/apply-here
BLUESIGN Certification
All finishing chemicals used in reactive print processes are BLUESIGN certified.
BLUESIGN represents the vision and mindset of responsible and sustainable manufacturing of textile consumer products. BLUESIGN is a system that provides safer and more sustainable environments for people to work in and everyone to live in. Powered by a holistic approach, BLUESIGN traces each textile’s path along the manufacturing process, making improvements at every stage from factory floor to finished product. BLUESIGN changes the environmental impact of textiles for good. https://www.bluesign.com/en
GOTS Certification
All finishing chemicals used in reactive print processes are GOTS certified.
The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibers, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain. https://www.global-standard.org/
Due to the cost of shipping we ship to the USA (excluding outlying islands), most countries in Europe, Mexico and Canada. The reason we only ship to these countries is because they are closer to our manufacturers and the shipping is less expensive.
Standard shipping in the USA will most likely take 7-10 business days, but can take up to 12 business days.
Standard International shipments may take up to 21 business days.
International orders take 10-30 business days, but may be delayed at the border of the destination country as they go through customs.
Please note shipping time is independent from production time. Production time is about a week.
If you would like to cancel an order, you will need to contact me ASAP, at val@valeriemilo.com preferably within 2 hours of placing your order. If your order is “In production” or “Printing,” you cannot make any changes. I cannot guarantee that I will receive and respond to your email and cancel the order within that two hour time frame but you are welcome to reach out to me and try.
International deliveries are shipped via DHL and are usually completed within 1-3 weeks. However, packages may take up to 21 business days to reach their final destination. International deliveries do not provide consistent tracking updates, and this may cause a shipment to appear stalled on the delivery route. Other factors that may extend the delivery window:
• The package is handled by multiple carriers, including handoff off to local post offices
• Local customs department processing times vary depending on the country and declared value
• Carrier work stoppages, like strikes
• Inclement weather along the delivery route
Due to these variables, we cannot provide a guaranteed delivery date for international deliveries.
If your international order has not arrived at the delivery location by the 21st business day, please reach out to me at val@valeriemilo.com.
If you enter an incorrect or incomplete address, the package will be returned to the manufacturer and may be reshipped at your cost. If you would like to place a new order to reduce the final delivery time, this is at your discretion. If you realize the mistake within two hours of placing your order, you can email me at val@valeriemilo.com and I can cancel your order within two hours but I cannot guarantee that I will receive and respond to your email within those two hours but you are more than welcome to try.
If there is a manufacturing mistake during printing or an item is damaged during shipping, we want to hear about it. Please reach out to me at val@valeriemilo.com with a photo of the damaged product, a description of the issue, and the order number and we’ll try to make it right! Please note that all complaints regarding product quality should be reported within two months of purchase.