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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”.

Gallery Representation

2024          Globe Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM

2024          Dean Street Gallery, Tampa FL

Exhibits

2025          Solo Show Heath Gallery, Harlem, NYC

2024          The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY

2024          "What the Imagination Seizes" Four Artist Show, Perry Lawson Gallery,                                             Nyack, NY 

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

2024           Commissioned to paint two 7 Feet Square Paintings for 

                   The Benjamin Royal Sonesta Hotel, NYC

2024           "We’re Outside" Outdoor Group Exhibit, Marcus Garvey Park,                                                          Harlem, NYC, Curated by Saundra Heath

2024           "Summer Crush" Group Show, AiR Studio Gallery, Westerly, RI

2024           "Pretty Pink Abstracts" Group Show, Art Gotham Gallery, NYC

2024           The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY 

2024            "Women of Substance - Dress" Juried Show, Women in the Heights, NYC

2023            The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY

2023            "We’re Outside" Outdoor Group Exhibit, Marcus Garvey Park, Harlem,                                            NYC, Curated by Fable Jones

2023            "Women of Substance -Past, Present, Future" Juried Show, Women in                                             the Heights, NYC

2023            The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY 

​​Media

2024            Authentic Obsessions Podcast

2023            Art Juice Podcast

2023            The Flying Fruit Bowl 

2023            Tap Into Your Creativity with Sandra Felemovicius Youtube

2022            No Brush Required Youtube 

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

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