Deborah Rhee, Contemporary Abstract Painter – Bainbridge Island Winter Studio Tour

Deborah is an Australian born artist, who moved to the United States with her husband and daughter in 2010. They enjoyed their new life in Texas, where Deborah built a client base, which she is still involved in today. When the opportunity to move to the San Francisco Bay Area arose, the family decided it was the perfect chance to expand their experiences and adventures. However, like many have experienced (myself included), San Francisco and the Bay Area can be overwhelming and expensive, and the need and desire to find a simpler and quieter life was always lingering — with relatives on Bainbridge Island, the next new experience and adventure seemed obvious. As she told me, “After 3 moves to 3 states in 8 years, I am forever starting again!” and she certainly has embraced this new start.

Her primary medium is oil and glaze, its sculptural qualities allowing for brush strokes, scraping, scratching and adding layers of color, which inspires Deborah to paint expressive works of colorful light and intriguing deep texture, creating abstract paintings that spark the imagination and ignite the visual senses.

More recently, she’s spent time experimenting with art journaling and translating the process to smaller works (under the tutelage of Erin Faith Allen). This new experiment has heavily influenced the way she’d previously worked her canvases, and was a wonderful way for her to reflect on herself, her life and where she wanted to go from there. She’s hoping to share this technique with others in the future, perhaps in a therapeutic capacity. Deborah has several “series” of paintings, which reflect her experiences and travels, as well as her emotional dedication to her art — she is still adding to each series. Having lived in San Francisco for 26 years myself, I found her “Fog Series” especially poignant and beautiful (and I was happy to hear she’s expanded on that series to reflect her new life in the PNW, and it will be available at the BI Winter Studio Tour this year, along with related inspirations and her art journaling inspired canvases). 

This will be Deborah’s first showing at the Bainbridge Island Winter Studio Tour and she’s excited to share her passion with locals and visitors as well as immersing herself into our vibrant artists’ community.

Her work has been exhibited both in the United States and many international forums.
She does complimentary consultation for commissions and her works can be shipped domestically and internationally.

Instagram: @debrhee
Website: https://www.deborahrhee.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deborah.rhee
Twitter: @DebRhee