Deborah Robinson

J:I spent quite a bit of time on your sites and reading your blog entries. You have my mind whirling with deep thoughts, my expression is smiling, and I have enjoyed the beauty of your paintings and your photography. Spending a few hours at your site just doesn't seem to do you justice. If I were able, I'd sit down with you in a garden park and chat for hours at a time.

Jayne: I noticed that your primary training was in music. What sort of influence has music had on your artwork?

Deborah: Not sure how directly it has influenced me. Any form of creativity is a path from the soul. However, I have been very interested in how tones of the scale relate to different colors. Sometimes when I am painting a deep blue color, I can almost hear a cello, or an oboe. It sounds like deep grief, only more comforting.

J: By your blog I see that painting is not your only outlet for creativity. You take beautiful photographs, write poetry and thought provoking articles as well. How has your creativity fed your soul and enhanced your life?

D:Thank you. Books were my first love, from ever since I can remember, and they still are very important. I learned to read before I went to school, fortunate, to have a mother who taught me. Music was my life for a long time, I made sacrifices for it. I have always enjoyed writing, studied photography at one point, I have an inate sense of curiousity. I think I am an experimenter in life. I like to have my fingers in a lot of pies, can't seem to limit myself to one area, although painting has certainly taken over. And I still enjoy writing. I do think, no matter which form creativity takes, one form, always feeds another. Now I enjoy the solitude of painting; hearing the brush sweep across the canvas, with it's velvety sound, and being in touch with the inner self, and the cosmos, living in the moment. I have the soul of an artist, and that is how I have approached most things in my life. Creativity has always been my salvation.

J: What is your art education background?
D:I do not have a formal educational background in art.
I have taken a few workshops, attended life drawing sessions, and been fortunate enough to have a few artist friends, who have been mentors to some degree.

J: How would you describe your style?
D:That is always the toughest question for an artist to answer, I think. How does one categorize one's own work? Contemporary, perhaps at this time. However I feel I am about to make a breakthrough, not sure where that will take me yet.

J: Do you feel that you are still learning as an artist?
D:I will always be learning, in everything I do. Seems the more you learn, the less you know. I am hungry for knowledge, and constantly try to better myself in all I do, including my art.

J: What artistic medium do you prefer and why?
D:I prefer acrylics these days. Acrylics are fast drying, which sometimes can be an advantage, Sometimes I think I will make the jump to oil, which I have dabbled in,and if I do that, I should think it will be much easier, as that it takes a lot of practise to achieve some of the effects found in oil, like blending for example. Yet, I am not sure I want to introduce those substances into my space.

J: Do you work with other artistic media as well?
DI have worked in watercolors, that is what I started with.
I have done some drawing from life, sketching, pastels, charcoal, pen & ink. I have also been a hairstylist for thirty years, which is another art form.

J: What artist(s) have been the most influential to you in your artwork?
D:Georgia O'Keefe, Canadian Group of Seven, Emily Carr, and most importantly, my mother, who is also an artist. I like many artists, however I cannot say they have influenced my work directly.

J: Where do you find inspiration?
D:Often inspiration for me is found in the simplest things,
a raindrop on a window, a certain glow of light, it's reflections, and shadows, birds at the bird feeder I could watch for hours. Sometimes I find it in music. I think about mythology, and dreams. I am working on creating from that.

J: When did you sell your first painting?
D: I sold my first painting while living in Yellowknife, NWT, about fifteen years ago. I had spent a month in New Mexico, drawn to the area, after reading about Georgia O'keefe. I felt a real kinshop with the place, convinced it was my spiritual home. Inspired by the landscape, I did a large body of work while I was there, and brought everything homeon the plane, in a bicycle box. When I returned North, I had an open studio show, and to my amazement, I sold over half the paintings. Then, to my surprise, I grieved their loss. I hadn't counted on that. Sometimes I still miss certain paintings, but it is healthy to let go.

J: What is the atmosphere of your studio, or your creative space like?
D:Comfortable, quiet, warm lighting, reference materials, art books at hand. I have a chair where I can sit back and view the work from a distance. It's my sacred space.

J: Where would you like to see yourself as an artist 5 years from now?
D: I would love to be doing my art full time. Wouldn't every artist? I would like to see in five years my work has continued to progress, and improve. I would like to be able to paint my dreams and visions. And I think recognition is a reward for all the time you have put into something.

J:Or, are you already there?
D:I love where I am right now, but nothing ever stays the same. Change is healthy.

J: For those aspiring artists who will one day look to your work for inspiration, what would you like to say to them to encourage their continued pursuit?
D:Just paint, yet keep the big picture in mind. In between painting, do little things everyday, to promote your art.
Opportunities will arise for you when the time is right, and you must be ready. Don't lose sight of your vision, and of your dreams. Be true to yourself. When you love what you do, others will too.

J: What is your philosophy on art in general, and then on your own artwork?
D:Art is sacred. Artist's are the modern day visionaries. Without art, there is no culture, without culture, we would simply be barbarians. We must keep it alive, if civilization is to thrive.

J: Do you actively exhibit your work anywhere besides online? If you have any upcoming exhibits, would you like to include that information here?
D:I am going to be involved in an artisan show, in Calgary next month, where my focus will be exhibiting and hopefully selling my miniature pieces. It's not really the proper venue for larger works. I have sold much of my work privately, as I have a lot of contacts, through my hairstyling career.

J: Do you have a favorite piece you have created and is there a story behind it?
D:My favorite piece, as far as meaning something to me goes, is the famous Adobe Church in Ranchos de Taos, which I painted on location. It was my first experience painting plein air. I was so inspired to paint it, that I believe it was far beyond my ability at the time. I could never sell that painting.

J: With the growth of the internet, how has the internet affected you as an artist?
D:The internet has helped me to grow in leaps and bounds. Everything from access to information, to people I have met on-line, mostly other artists. I have sold a few pieces on the internet, through contacts, and being able to send them
links to my pages. I am just beginning with e-commerce. Computers are relatively new to me.

J: What has been your experience in regards to marketing your own artwork and do you have some advice for other artists?
D:I still have a lot to learn about marketing. I have always been self representing, although I am considering other avenues. It is a lot of work to promote yourself, and it can take away from the painting time. Painting is a right brain activity, promoting it is left brain. I try to manage my time, so that when I am painting, nothing interferes with the creative process.

J: If you could live and create your artwork anywhere in the world, where would that be and why?
D: I always thought I would love to live in New Mexico. I really loved it there, >however I haven't been back for a long time, so I don't know if I would feel the same about it. I do not think I would be able to leave Canada permanently, and I am such a homebody now. Yet, not having been to Europe, I would really love to see it sometime, and to be able to paint there. I am also attracted to Latin America, and South America, so rich in culture. I am attracted to the Spanish speaking cultures.

J: What is your favorite quote?
D:"Follow your bliss" . . . Joseph Cambell.

J: What question haven't I asked of you that you'd like me to ask, and please answer it.
D:Life is precious. Make the most of it.

J: What would you like your legacy to be for future generations?
D:I would like to know that I have touched people somehow, through my art, and personally. Give then something to aspire to. Remembering me would be like a whisper in the trees.

Jayne Darcy is a writer. Visit her at http://www.jaynedarcy.us/