https://www.flickr.com/photos/69655891@N06/
https://flic.kr/ps/24y3Gu Contact the artist at [email protected] Bio Deborah Hughes’ path in art started early in Mississippi has taken twists and turns that led her to a career as an illustrator and graphic designer with The University of Alabama and continues to prompt her to explore changing art forms including film and mixed media sculpture. As a youth she had the good fortune to be in the presence of artist and teacher, Eloise McLellan, almost every Saturday morning. Eloise, a saucy, abstract expressionist with a cap of red hair, was very painterly and talked about studying with Hans Hoffman. Her studio down the hill from her house in Meridian was filled with chests of fascinating objects, rich swatches of fabric, and stacks of art books. Throughout the morning, her half dozen or so students were free to rummage, set up subjects, position themselves at easels and paint away as she made her outspoken rounds. Deborah hit the art department at the University of Alabama in the golden sunset of the Little Bo, Woods Quad era in a pair of bellbottoms secured at The Navy airbase, supply store in downtown Meridian. She received a BFA in painting and experienced an eclectic mix of professors including, AL Sella, Howard Goodson, and Richard Brough. It was in sculpture with Art Oakes that she thoroughly received the directive to break down any previously held idea about “ what art is”. Her senior work in his class was experimental film shot on the art department’s, super 8-movie camera. She went on to Florida State to pursue an MFA in painting and her graduate show ended up being installations of mixed media sculpture. While in Florida she worked as an illustrator of children's books and had a two-year residency as a visual artist with The Fine Arts Council of Florida. She returned to Alabama to fill a position as assistant professor of art at the University of West Alabama and later became Art Director of Educational Media for The University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa. Her experience with the University was rich and varied, including the design of award winning theatre and dance posters, magazines, web design and interactive media. In 2013, Deborah took over coordinating the hanging of the art at the University Medical Center and in January 2014 she became the official curator of the Wellness Walls for Art program. Recent shows include A Sense of Place, A Brush With Art – Paintings by The Tuscaloosa and University Painters; The Many Faces of Art in Adult Continuing Education; About People; Quilting and Carving; featuring the prints of Isadora Bullock and quilts by the West Alabama Quilters Guild. Her experience with themed shows at the Medical Center, prompted her to start looking for a unifying theme in her own work. I noticed that rocks played a prominent role in many of my paintings. The seeds of “On the Rocks” were sown in the coast of Southern California, and further took root during a trip to the Canadian Rockies. Shows Her 2003 show at the Kentuck Gallery entitled “Five Months in Carpinteria” represented her experience as a landscape painter during a sojourn to Southern California. The Meisel Gallery in Santa Barbara featured her plein air landscapes in a group show of five artists also in 2003. Nine of Deborah's paintings have been selected to be reproduced as large giclee prints and installed into in Santa Barbara CA Cottage Hospital as a part of their Healing Arts initiative. Deborah returns to California throughout the year to paint on location and participate in the arts community there. While painting on location her work is foremost about being there, direct observation, and a visual dialog with her chosen environment. Deborah continues to be active with the SCAPE group and participate in their juried shows such as The Wildling Museum in Solvang, CA and the Baccara Resort shows. In Tuscaloosa, one-woman shows include The Kentuck Gallery, The Art Council’s Junior League Gallery, University of Alabama Ferguson Center Gallery and the University Medical Center. Around Alabama her work has been in The Energen, Wonders of Alabama Art shows. . The Alabama Wildlife Federations’ Flora and Fauna show. In the fall of 2011 Deborah’s paintings were featured in two one-woman Tuscaloosa shows entitled “Wanderings” and “Every Bloomin’ Thing”. In the fall of 2012 her work was featured in a show at The Birmingham Botanical Garden entitled “Down the Garden Path, and to the Water’s Edge”. Her show "On The Rocks" March 2016 at The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center migrated to The University Medical Center. For the past seven years Deborah has been curating , vibrant changing shows at UMC. UPDATE She spent 5 months in Montreal and Maine, summer of 2019, and currently divides her time painting between Tuscaloosa and her mountain home outside Asheville, NC. often with TheAsheville Plein aire Painters.The Wellness Walls at University Medical Center will feature her work from The Joe and Yasmin Negger collection October-December 2022. |