Amazing progress from student to disciplined artist. Dee's work shows a strong sense of form and accuracy of line. A promising artist.

Barclay Sheaks; Associate Professor of Art at Virginia Wesleyan University, Norfolk, Virginia. He was my most inspirational art professor. I dedicate my love of making art to him.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Making art for me is like being on a very long creative and spiritual journey. The art process has always been a consuming, stimulating passion in my life. I live to create…it is something that keeps me going every day.

BIO

Creating art is an introspective and deeply inspiring experience for me. This essential need deepens the artistic connection within myself. It sparks my personal interpretation through my artistic accomplishments.

When people view my work, I want them to feel the essence of the painting and connect with the mood of appealing colors. Expression of form, color use and placement of the subject is relevant for every artwork I design.

All of the art I create portray images that have an illustrative-painterly quality. My stylized fine art paintings reveal rhythmic fluid lines and flowing design. The colors I use echo the strength, beauty and allure of nature. I like to blend curvilinear stylization with traditional realism. My subjects (nature, animals, people, florals) are captured with graceful fluid lines, unifying decoration and aesthetics. I create my own personal interpretation of what I see and feel through color and visual expression of the subject.

Born in Washington D.C. and raised in the Northern Virginia area, I began creating art at a very early age and have never stopped. I was always interested in art and by the time I got to high school and then college, I was totally immersed in it. I presently work full time at DevaArt Studio as a freelance artist.

Most Recent

• Book Cover Design 2022; Garden Like A Shaman - Published by Uptown Press, USA

Publication

• American Artists of Renown - Nominated for entry as a tribute to the contemporary American Artist. Published by Wilson Publishing Company, Gilmer, Texas

There were many art history, painting, illustration, sculpture, ceramics and graphic design classes during my entire art education. Communication design and website design were also a large part of the curriculum.

SELECTIONS from 1990-2020

Solo Exhibitions

• New Paintings; Studio 19, Old Town Warrenton, Virginia
• Paintings; Hampton Center for the Arts, Newport News, Virginia
• Dance Serenade; Tidewater Ballet Association; Norfolk, Virginia
• Dance Works; Dance Atlantic, Virginia Beach, Virginia
• New Works; Village Gallery, Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Fine Art Jewelry Design Exhibition; Warrenton, Virginia

Permanent Commercial Collections

• Maple Drop Restaurant; Perth, Ontario, Canada
• Pools and Patios, Inc., San Jose; CA
• Commodore Cruises, Inc.; Lafayette, CA
• Napolean’s Restaurant; Warrenton, Virginia
• Fauquier Hospital, VA; (ten original paintings for children’s rooms and waiting areas)
• Halsey Homes, Inc. Gainesville; Virginia
• American Fitness Industries; Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Southern Financial Federal Savings Bank; Virginia

Fine Art Juried Competitions                                       

• Bradley National Print and Drawing Fine Art Exhibition; Bradley, Illinois
• Rutgers National Drawing Competition; Rutgers University, Rutgers New Jersey
• Davidson National Drawing Competition; Stowe Gallery, Illinois
• The Blatch Museum of Fine Arts National Competition; Rockledge, Florida
• Roanoke Museum of Fine Arts Exhibition; Virginia
• American Drawings; Portsmouth Arts Center, Virginia
• Alexandria Fine Art Competition, Alexandria, Virginia
• Paintings; Nansemond-Suffolk Academy Art Show, Suffolk, Virginia

Juried Invitational Shows                                             
Piedmont Regional Art Show, First Place; judges comment: Judge: Mr. Val Lauton, Chief Designer of the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 

I like this painting, Inner Sanctum, because of the way it is composed in the space. It’s about dancing and has the feeling of the dance. It also has a strong rhythmic, graphic image. Color matches mood. Extraordinary. Doesn’t use anymore then it has to.

• Fairhaven Designer’s Showcase Art Nouveau; planned an interior design for a room in an 1892 French second empire house.
  Four gouache paintings were specifically created for this showcase which was visually translated into an Art Nouveau gallery, Fauquier County, Virginia
• An Occasion for the Arts Fine Art Show; Williamsburg, Virginia
• Hope House Foundation; Stockley Gardens Fine Art Competition; Norfolk, Virginia
• Prince William Center for the Arts; Prince William, Virginia; Best in Show
• Alexandria King Street Art Festival; Alexandria, Virginia
• Virginia Beach Boardwalk Annual Fine Arts Competition; Virginia Beach, Virginia (exhibited in this juried show 10 years)
• Virginia Beach Center for the Arts Members Exhibition; Virginia Beach, Virginia

Group Shows                                                                 

• Textures In Paint; Art Works Gallery, Norfolk, Virginia
• Two Person Multi-Media Art Show; Hampton Center for the Arts and Humanities, Hampton, Virginia
• Special Showing Spring Fine Art Show; original drawings/works in watercolor, Studio 19, Fine Art Gallery, Warrenton, Virginia
• Intimate Impressions Exhibit; Studio 19 Fine Art Gallery, Virginia; featuring monotypes 
• New Paintings Opening Gala; Studio 19 Fine Art Gallery, Virginia; paintings, drawings, monotypes
• New Works; Holiday Exhibition Studio 19, monotypes and drawings
• Seven, Virginia Beach Center for the Arts; Award of Excellence and Honorable Mention, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Publication

• American Artists of Renown; nominated for entry as a tribute to the contemporary American Artist. Published by Wilson Publishing Company, Gilmer, TX

Commissions                                                                           

•  Life Expressions; painting commissions completed from 2019-2022
• Numerous private commissions for clients (some subjects include architectural buildings, landscapes, florals, portraits, dogs)
• Designed the 2006 Mardi Gras poster, Noah's Ark, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Commercial Illustrative Work; Joint Maritime Congress, Washington, DC (illustration of the Capital building)
• Logo design for Dance Atlantic Dance Studio, Virginia Beach, Virginia
• Surface Design; Nichols Design Studio, Fairfax, Virginia
• Commercial Illustrative Work; retail businesses (dance apparel, accessories), magazines, newspapers, brochures, invitations, calendars, posters
• Commercial Illustrative Work; designed Napolean’s Restaurant logo, signs and other branding

Education
B.F.A. Virginia Wesleyan University, Norfolk, Virginia
A.A.S. Communication Design; Specialization in Illustration, magna cum laude
A.A.S. Web/Digital Design; Sessions Education, Soho, New York, NY

• Independent Study oil painting workshop with Wayne Thiebaud (American artist best known for his works showing familiar things that we may see in our everyday lives such as, cakes, fruit, pies, pastries, toys and candies to name a few). Mountain Lake, Virginia 
• Trompe L’oeil study/classes; The Art League School, Alexandria, VA (Torpedo Factory Art Center, one of Washington DC’s largest art galleries)
• Faux Painting master classes; The Art League School, Alexandria, Virginia 
• Independent Studies Virginia Wesleyan University, Norfolk, Virginia