Val Archer

Val Archer (born 1946) is a British oil painter and teacher who is known for her meticulously composed still life paintings.

Early life and education Archer was born in Northampton where her father was an engineer and her mother was a bookbinder. Archer attended Saturday morning art classes taught by Henry Bird at the Northampton School for Art. She studied at the Manchester School of Art from 1964 until 1968 when she entered the Royal College of Art, RCA.

Career At the RCA Archer won the Anstruther Prize for painting in 1970 before graduating the following year. Archer's commercial work included a 1982 poster design for British Rail and designs for the BBC Good Food magazine in the early 1990s. Since 1998 Archer has been represented by the Chris Beetles Gallery in London. In 2006 Archer co-wrote an illustrated travel and food book about Italy called The Painter, the Cook and the Art of Cucina with Anna Del Conte.