Jerome Valery was born Valery Gromov in Kovrov, Russia, 1964.  He was the great-grandson of an accomplished artist, and was surrounded by art from birth.  In 1978 Moscow hosted an exhibition of the Premier Collection from the Prado Museum.  Valery, at age 14, left school unannounced midday and made the 600-mile train trip to see masterpieces by Velasquez, Goya, and El Greco.  Finally fully inspired to become a painter himself, Valery left his small southern hometown at age 17 to study art in St. Petersburg.

Graduating from the Donetsk Art College in 1983, Valery found work as a designer at the Donetsk Art & Decor factory, and was eventually accepted as a student of the esteemed Professor Kichko in 1993 and began participating in annual exhibitions.  Valery's success grew, and as of 2000 he had participated in numerous group exhibition in Marseilles, Strasbourg, St. Petersburg, Nant, Paris and many other European cities.  He has now been introduced to the United States, and carmen's is proud to carry two of his original oils, seen below.