Debora Stewart

Artist Statement

Drawing is the foundation of all I do.  I love the act of drawing and making marks on paper.  I have always drawn flowers and plants and continue to keep sketchbooks of garden drawings.  I use these drawings in my abstract pastels and paintings on canvas. 

Inspiration for color often comes from walks through a park, garden or neighborhood.  I travel a lot and am inspired by the various environments that I see.  What I see and experience creates an impact, which later comes out in lines and colors.  Much of my process involves journaling, visualizing, recording ideas into a sketchbook and creating small studies before I begin a larger piece. 

I work with both soft pastel and acrylic mixed media on canvas.  I am very passionate about the medium of soft pastel.  Pastel has allowed me to work quickly and intuitively which has helped me develop an abstract style.  Soft pastel is a brilliant medium that creates a luminous appearance.  Painting on canvas brings another dimension to my work.  I love working large with various brushes and mark making tools.  I often begin an acrylic painting after finishing a pastel.  The colors and mark making of the pastel often inspire the painting on canvas.  Most of my work reflects nature and gardens.  The garden is symbolic of emergence, growth, change and the fleeting beauty of life.

Bio

Debra received a BA in Art Education from the University of Iowa, Iowa City and an MS Ed Counselor Education, Western Illinois University. She also completed the Aimone Master’s Residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, FL.

Debra is a Signature Member and Master Pastelist of the Pastel Society of America and a member of the Master’s Circle for the International Association of Pastel Societies.  She has exhibited nationally and internationally and has received numerous awards. She authored “Abstract Art Painting: Expressions in Mixed Media,” published by Northlight Books in 2015, in addition to a series of teaching videos. Debra teaches workshops in abstraction extensively throughout the U.S.