Debra Sheffer

DEBRA SHEFFER

LANDSCAPE, RICH COLOR, VIBRANT

Mt. Sidney, Virginia

"I crave time to absorb the beauty of quiet spaces. I love exploring the countryside on painting excursions where I often connect with the most interesting people and learn the history of different areas. Most of my paintings begin on location, and the practice has changed the way I see the world. In my mind, I feel that I am making paintings as I observe the landscape. Driving the car, I am transfixed by the way light falls across the land and I think about how I would lay the colors down. I distill my observations to a value study initially, balancing the darks and lights, sensibilities informed by years as a graphic designer. Some on-site sketches are used to inform larger studio works but painting outdoors is
always my preference. I work primarily in oil. 

Other landscape painters who have influenced my work include California impressionists Edgar Payne and William Wendt, as well as Fairfield Porter and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot."