About the Artist
Biography
Debra Lee Valeri, born in 1960, grew up in Bridgewater, MA. She graduated from Rhode Island School of Design in 1982 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. At RISD she was preparing for a career as a children's book illustrator, studying with illustrators Chris VanAllsburg, David Porter, Lester Abrams, and David McCauley; painters Tom Sgouros and Trent Burleson; color field theorist, Sy Sillman; and perspective drawing with artist Akira Arita.
Her early career as an illustrator began with both freelance and staff positions at advertising agencies and manufacturers. In 1988 she acquired her MA Teacher’s Certification from the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth. In the next five years that followed she taught high school level art while while spending the summers painting and teaching Illustration at Rhode Island School of Design Summer Sessions.
Married with two young children, she was fully expecting to eventually return to art teaching. In the meantime, to stay current, she enjoyed experimenting with various forms of creating with "new" digital media forms, such as digital photography, photomontage, and digital painting. She taught herself game programming, creating five games, including all the graphics and illustration of the interface. Soon afterwards, she taught herself html, CSS, and scripts to code her own website as well as the South Coast Artist, Inc. website. During this period she painted part time in watercolor but did not yet exhibit her work.
In 1999, Debbie, along with her husband and two children, moved to Westport, MA, a beautiful coastal town that would become a never-ending source of her artistic inspiration. After a couple more years of teaching, her professional direction changed in 2006 when she built a new studio at her home in Westport. She now focuses on painting oil landscapes full time and her work is always on display there at her Meadowbrook Studio gallery.
Once she began painting full time she entered many shows and juried competitions, winning numerous awards in a short period of time. Some of the shows and venues included Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, National Arts Club (NYC, NY), Providence Art Club (Providence, RI), Guild of Boston Artists (Boston, MA), Paint America Top 100 (Traveled throughout US), Grimshaw-Gudewicz Art Gallery (BCC, Fall River, MA, Duxbury Art Association (Duxbury, MA), Plymouth Arts Guild (Plymouth, MA), Cape Cod Art Association (Barnstable MA), South County Art Association (South Kingstown, RI), Attleboro Arts Museum (Attleboro, MA), She was at that time represented by galleries in Westport, MA, Newport, RI, Tiverton, RI, and Jamestown, RI.
Debra became an elected member of the Guild of Boston Artists of Newbury Street, Boston, in 2015, where some of her work is exhibited at all times. She participates in all member shows and is represented at all times throughout the year in their gallery. Before becoming an elected Guild member she had been juried into the non-member Annual Regional Juried Exhibition for the seven years prior, selling many of her paintings and winning a medal.
Every summer since 2007, she has been a participating member of the South Coast Artist Open Studio Tour. For one weekend in July, and again in August, she enjoys this opportunity to meet many of her patrons in person and to engage with them about her work. She paints outdoors weekly with the Westport Art Group.
Since 2019 she has been represented by Pierce Galleries, Inc. on Nantucket, MA. She is also an Artist-in-Residence at the Carlisle House Inn on Nantucket for a week each June, which offers her the opportunity to paint on location there each summer.
"My true subject is the light and atmosphere; and my true painting objective is to convey the essence of a place through an understanding of the color of its light, shadow, and atmosphere."
--Debra Valeri
Statement
My artwork may be described as impressionistic, atmospheric oil landscapes that focus on scenes close to home, that is, coastal and rural scenes of Massachusetts.
My paintings depict a fairly literal representation of the natural landscape, ranging from larger panoramic scenic views, to tighter, close-up views of a single subject (such as a tree or a wave). Most of these places are close to home; I visit them frequently and know them quite intimately. The preferred subject matter ranges from seascapes to snowscapes, with special interest in depicting the interplay of light and shadow on light colored grounds, such as sand or snow. Most scenes are depicted without figures, creating an added quiet, timeless quality.
My artistic focus is in attempting to achieve a "sense of place" through the lighting and atmospheric conditions of a particular place, at a moment in time. That is, my true subject is the light and atmosphere; and my true painting objective is to convey the essence of a place through an understanding of the color of its light, shadow, and atmosphere. I am especially attracted to the intense, warm glow of the late day sun, or the last light just after sundown, or the hazy atmosphere of a hot, muggy summer day.
I have always been very interested in many aspects of visual perception, including the physics of light. My goal is to expand upon my observational painting skills utilizing what I know about the science of light and optics to further "push," or better describe, a realistic impression of the lighting. The overall palette and color key used will aim to further describe the atmospheric quality, as well as convey my intuitive and emotional feel of the place.
For me, the timeless quality of nature and painting the landscape appeals to an awareness of our greater consciousness and freedom from our mental and mundane constraints. My paintings usually depict quiet, restful places that are intended to be inviting, offering a respite for the mind and a soulful respect of the spirit that inhabits the place itself while also uniting us in appreciation of it. My personal challenge with each painting is to try to recreate the essence of the exact thing that stopped me in my tracks in the first place, and to share that with others.
Inspirational Artists
"If I could say it in words there would be no reason to create".
Edward Hopper
"Art is not what you see but what you make others see."
Edgar Degas
"Color is my day-long obsession, joy, and torment."
Claude Monet