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“Art is my way of giving back to my community. I believe my work is important because it is visual storytelling and through the story it preserves our history, special places, and experiences.”
Debbie indulges in San Antonio’s charm presented through its celebrations, cultural traditions, architecture, and urban life. Having grown up in rural Texas, two hundred miles away, she is an outdoor enthusiast who appreciates the San Antonio experience which offers a breadth of recreational opportunities while also remaining committed to conservation. Her paintings are dedicated to the capturing genuineness, mood, and allure of the people, places, and things of her “two homes”.
Upon graduation from high school, she earned a degree in visual communications from the Art Institute in Houston where she specialized in marketing and illustration. She has worked for numerous agencies honing her craft in not only design but, creative writing all the while remaining immersed in fine art — transitioning from realism to representational and considers herself mostly self-taught. She has received awards for her art and is a former member of River Art Group and The Coppini Academy of Fine Art.
Debbie believes that the beauty of her art is held in the subjects and left to the viewer and the visual narrative, while up for interpretation, is an attempt at preservation.
MORE ABOUT THIS ARTIST
Artist Type: Media Arts: Graphic Artist, Media/Visual Communications; Multi-Disciplinary: Multiple Art Forms; Visual Arts: Illustrator, Mixed Media Artist, Painter
Artist Statement of Work
Tell us about your work (style, approach, philosophy, subject and/or theme):
A recent writing project, Mi Casita, (my little house) drew me back to mother's story of her life growing up on a tomato farm in central Texas in the early 1940s. The project made it clear that sharing our own narratives is not only about preserving personal history, but it offers our own unique perspective and broader understanding of life's challenges which we can all learn from. These narratives can connect us and build the bridge.
My philosophy is to use the canvas to tell the narrative with the hope of creating an experience through connection. A weathered landscape or a gilt-edged facade is both history and a story that is captured and retold through the lens of the artist and interpreted by the viewer. It can inspire, bring joy or peace, or an old memory.
I primarily paint from my own collection of photography. I use a traditional method of painting that begins with a thin underpainting of either Burnt Sienna or cadmium red and progress meticulously from the main subject outward adding thicker layers of paint until complete. I am inspired by artists Homer, Hopper, Cassatt, and Alexander White.
My goal is to elevate my art through conceptualization and leveraging my graphic design aesthetic while also experimenting with impasto in a style similar to Klimt, Diebenkorn, and Freud. In 2025, I plan to continue “mi casita” with greater thought and interpretation on the canvas bringing important stories of the people, places, and things that compose our community.