Description

Inspiration On The Edge Of Texas Hill Country

Using photographs she acquires while traveling in her RV with husband Mike and dog, Georgia, Debbie often imagines stories to accompany the images she constructs. After ten years in the graphics arts business and another 11 owning an automotive oil change business, she finally committed herself in 2005 to devote to painting full time. Her favorite medium is oil, but watercolor and pencil are also ways of expressing her love of the beauty God has brought into her life, with favorite subjects being cowboys, Texas landscapes, wildlife, and horse related events.

A member of the Colorado based “Daily Painters” group since 2007 and a founding member of the Artists of Texas in 2009, Debbie devotes as much time promoting the art of other talented people as she does her own. In her spare time, she enjoys gardening, cooking, caring for assorted farm animals (including chickens), playing with her grand baby, quilting and riding one of the 3 horses that still reside at her farm.

Debbie says: “Many of my neighbors are real cowboys and horsemen/women. The photo opportunities are endless and the inspirations are bounded only by one’s imagination. I feel blessed to be able to indulge two of my passions in such a fashion – painting the country and people around me and riding the horses that are bred here. I am still ‘evolving’ a style. When I was in desktop publishing and designing logos, I drew like an engineer – precise and exact – photographic-like reproductions were my mainstay. Now, as a cherished friend says, I want to ‘hang loose’. My style is not yet established (and may never be!). I am having too much fun trying new things…but I predict if you follow me for a while, you’ll enjoy the variety and the evolution!”

“My definition of art is highly personal. Simply put, it’s what makes me happy. That’s a fairly broad definition and includes pushing oil paint around on various surfaces. Included in that list of happy things is tending my vegetable garden, milking my cow, riding my horse and reading to my grandchildren. Too many people question the value of art without considering what art does for the soul of the artist. That’s where the true value lies. There is value in its observation as well. If you love a work of art and can afford what the artist will take to part with it, then the perfect deal is made. You are happy. The artist is happy (and can make MORE art). My life has been devoted to making art and parting with it for various sizes of payments. I have never regretted parting with any piece of work for any price, because they have all gone home with someone who wanted them. So in many ways my art makes me happy because it makes their caretakers happy, too. I grew up in Dallas, Texas but quickly decided that the city life was not for me. Now I live in a rural area near the heart of Texas where I can spend my time improving my little piece of the world and push paint around until it pleases me. If it pleases you, too, that’s wonderful.”