previous Artist in Residence

Current Artist in Residence:
Debra Howard
You can view some of Debra's work here

Debra spent her childhood in Miami Florida, where she first discovered her love affair with color, light, painting and sailing. She studied art at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Florida, and began her career in San Francisco , the home of her first illustration studio.  After 17 years as a successful illustrator in various cities, she closed her studio to concentrate on fine art painting. In 1989, she moved aboard her 44-foot sailing sloop and began painting what she saw on her adventures. Her work exhibits her sensitivity to her natural surroundings and she incorporates her emotions of the place into her paintings. Movement and adventure naturally express themselves in her work. One of her goals during her residency is to create 300 paintings, one each morning immediately after she arises.

"My landscape paintings begin out of doors and on location, where I record the bare bones or structure of the scene before me. From there they quickly move to the arena of how I felt in that place, what the weather was like, how the air felt on my skin, what emotions surfaced has I sat quietly before the view."

"I take to my studio the emerging painting and there I begin to fill in what was before me. I paint the
drama of the sunrise, the magnitude of a starlit night, the clear crisp calm of a winter evening just as
the sun disappears and the wind dies to a whisper. I paint heat and deep cool shadows. I paint skies
that have overwhelmed everything else before me and dark lonely nights where I felt I was the only
person for miles around."

"I use a distinctive and rich colour palate and a variety of brush strokes and techniques to achieve
this. I paint on gessoed masonite board when I am trying to convey a strong and adventurous landscape. I use linen canvas for a softer, quieter image and subtle light variances. I paint with oils because of the endless range of techniques it affords me. Oils can be used as a transparent wash, or a heavier intense build to convey movement. Oils allow a fluid way to blend colours by painting wet on wet or a dry brush for texture and softness and transparent glazes for luminosity"

Debra is the 2006 winner of the Cooper River Bridge Run competition. The first T-shirt and poster design celebrating the opening of the new Authur Ravenal Bridge in Charleston South Carolina. You will see over 50,000 people wearing T-shirts sporting her distinctive painting style.

She was also voted, "Best Visual Artist in Charleston- 2007", by the people of Charleston

She currently lives and travels on her 44 foot sailboat, Ling-Ling, with her husband, David, and their dogs, Amber and Swab.

Selected Solo Exhibitions:

• Fish or Cut Bait Gallery, Edisto Island, SC - Winter Landscapes - December 2007
• Fish or Cut Bait Gallery, Edisto Island, SC - Silent Night, Holy Night - November 2006
• Huyler House, Dewees Island -journey's on my way home - October, 2006
• Women's Center of Charleston - Women of the New South - 2004
• African American Culture Center, Charlotte, NC -African American Influences - 2003
• The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County, Camden, SC - Places from my imagination - 2003
• City Gallery of Charleston, Women of the Low country - 2002
• Sandpiper Gallery, Sullivan's Island, SC -Summer Series - 2002
• Gallery 32 Vendue , Charleston, SC - People from my travels - 2001 collection

Selected Group Exhibitions:

• Peninsula fine arts center PFAC, Newport News, VA - Biennial 2008
• City Gallery at Waterfront Park, Charleston SC - Furry Affair - 2007
• City Gallery at Waterfront Park, Charleston SC - Furry Affair - 2006
• Edward Dare Gallery, Charleston SC - Grand Opening - 2005
• Fish or Cut Bait Gallery, Edisto Island, SC - New Beginnings - 2005
• Spencer Gallery, Charleston, SC - New Works - 2004
• Church Studio and Gallery, Charleston, SC - Storms in Life - 2004
• Arts United for Davidson County, NC - Body Languages - 2003
• The Art Collection at Town Center, Mt. Pleasant, SC - Landscapes - 2001
• Art Center Gallery of St. Simons - On going - 1999

Selected Publications:

• Post & Courier
• Charleston Magazine
• Carolina Arts
• Charleston City Paper
• The Press and Standard

Awards:

• Best of Charleston, City Paper, Voted Best Local Visual Artist - 2007
• Cooper River Bridge Run Design Competition - 2006
• Juried State-wide art show, Museum of Art Spartenburg, SC - 3rd Place - 2003
• Spoleto Festival Juried Art Show - lst Place - 2003
• Juried Artist Guild Show, Folly Beach, SC - 2nd Place - 2002
• Artist in Residence, Poinsett State Park, SC - 2001

Art Collections:

• Private collections in almost every state in the U.S.
• Charleston Harbor Resort and Marina, 'State Record'
• Ringling School ot`Art

Education:

• BFA - Ringling School ofArt, Sarasota, FL 1974-1977
• Tour of Europe's great art museums, galleries and cathedrals in a study program with Readers Digest - 1974
• Sea School 100 ton Masters USCG Captain's License with Sail Auxiliary

Represented By:

• Fish or Cut Bait Gallery, 142 Jungle Road, Edisto, SC 29438 - Brailsford Sutton 843-869-1118
• Pheobus Art Gallery, One Mellem Street - Hampton, VA 23663 - 757-722-7469