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About Me

Debbie is a Scottish artist who came to NYC to work as a textile

designer in 1991. She fell in love with the city and her husband Elliott,

and they moved to Harlem where they raised their two sons and still

reside. During the pandemic, Debbie finally decided to pursue her

dream of painting fine art full time, and left her successful commercial

art career of more than three decades. Debbie's art is now in private collections throughout the United States and around the world.

 

Artist Statement

I need to find hope in this fragile and divided world by creating the beauty of diversity. I believe it's critical for everyone to feel seen and to feel that we can coexist in peace. 

I grew up in a working-class family in Scotland affected by intergenerational alcoholism and poverty. When I left for London, as the first in my family to pursue a college degree, I immediately felt out of place in the predominantly upper-class art school environment. This experience only added fuel to my inner belief of being “never enough” and as an adult, I've sought to heal from this narrative. In fact, I'm forever compelled by the underdog, and I strive to fight for equality for everyone. The commingling of races and cultures fascinates me, and the courage of "social outcasts" who walk their own walk inspires me.

My earliest influences were Max Beckmann and Egon Schiele, and experiencing Mark Rothko’s paintings at the Tate Gallery left an indelible mark. These impressions still influence me as I navigate my artistic path merging figurative and abstract art. Using a multitude of tools as a means of relinquishing control, I start each painting by building layers of abstract paint and collage, approaching each layer as a vehicle to explore color, value or simply to play. I've spent my lifetime trying to find peace with all the imperfections within myself and my past, and this way of building an imperfect history feels like a cathartic and loving place from which my figures can emerge. While participating in a visual dialogue of adding and subtracting and adjusting the measure of abstract versus figurative, I'm constantly asking myself the question, what needs to be said and what needs to be left unsaid.

I don't want to tell the whole story. Creating a dynamic composition for initial impact is key to capturing viewers’ attention, by first making them stop and look, then enticing them to stay and discover the subtlety within the paintings. Just like life, there is more to us than what initially meets the eye. My art conveys how our diversity is what makes us beautiful, that we are all connected regardless of our differences, and that we need to spend time discovering the “whole picture”.

 

Education

1984 - 1985          St Martins School of Art (Foundation Course)

1985 - 1988          Liverpool School of Art (BA Hons Printed Textiles)

2019 - 2022          Creative Visionary Program 

                             (4 consecutive years of a 3 month online Fine Art painting class lead by                                     artist Nicholas Wilton)

 

Work Experience

1988 - 1997         Worked various jobs as a printed textile designer and art director

1997 - 2019         Art Licensing artist and designer

2019 - Present     Fine artist - my art is in private collections throughout the United States and                               around the world

 

Exhibits

Oct 2024                      The Other Art Fair Brooklyn

Oct 4 - Nov 17 2024    Four Woman Show - Perry Lawson Gallery, Nyack, NY 

Sept 2024                    "Neutrals" Group Show, Loy Luo Gallery, NYC

Sept 2024                    Commissioned to paint two 7 Feet Square Paintings for 

                                    The Benjamin Royal Sonesta Hotel, NYC

August 2024                We’re Outside - Outdoor Group Exhibit in Marcus Garvey Park,                                                   Harlem, Curated by Saundra Heath

Aug 2 - Sep 28 2024   AiR Studio Gallery, Westerly, RI

July 2024                     Represented in Santa Fe at Globe Fine Art

May - June 2024          Pretty Pink Abstracts - Group Show at Art Gotham Gallery, NYC

May 2024                     The Other Art Fair Brooklyn 

Mar - May 2024           Juried Show - Women in the Heights - Women of Substance - Dress

Nov 2023                     The Other Art Fair Brooklyn

August 2023                We’re Outside - Outdoor Group Exhibit in Marcus Garvey Park,                                                   Harlem, Curated by Fable Jones

May - July 2023           Juried Show - Women in the Heights - Women of Substance -

                                     Past, Present, Future

May 2023                     The Other Art Fair Brooklyn 

Media

July 2023             Art Juice Podcast - Artist Feature Interview with Louise Fletcher

June 2023            Aatonau - Artist Feature

August 2023        The Flying Fruit Bowl - Artist Feature

June 2023           Tap Into Your Creativity with Sandra Felemovicius

                            Youtube  Artist Feature Interview

Nov 2022             No Brush Required Youtube - Artist Feature Interview

Debbie July 2022_edited.jpg
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