About Debora Stewart

Debora Stewart has exhibited and sold her work throughout the country. Her work is in private and public collections including the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. She is represented by Dubaigne Fine Art, Ltd, New York, Xanadu Gallery, Scottsdale, Arizona, The Artful Home, Madison, Wisconsin, Corner House Gallery, Cedar Rapids, Iowa and Iowa Artisans Gallery in Iowa City, Iowa. She has exhibited at Chicago galleries such as the Robert Wayner/Black Walnut Gallery, Karen Solem Gallery in Elmhurst and River East Art Center. In September of 2011 Stewart's work was included in a Pastel Invitational exhibit at Abend Gallery in Denver, Colorado. Abend is one of Denver's most prominent galleries.

Stewart has won awards from Pastel Journal Magazine's Pastel 100 competition in 2010 and 2011.
Her work has been included in publications such as Studio Visit by Open Studios Press and A Walk Through Abstracts Vol. 3 by Sue St. John. She is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, Chicago Pastel Painters and the Iowa Pastel Society. In 2012 the artist is scheduled to provide workshops on abstract pastels in Iowa, Georgia and Ontario.

Artist Statement

My art is always in transition. It has evolved from representational to an intuitive abstraction of nature. My relationship to nature is central to my creativity.

I am most inspired by creating work with a gestural, expressive line and intuitive color choice. My work is not an observational record but contains elements of an emotional experience in nature.

Pastel is a very natural medium for me. By nature, I am someone who loves to draw. Pastels have allowed me to combine my love of drawing with painting. I love the immediacy, vividness and purity of pastels. My paintings are created on a textured surface such as sanded paper or
paper that has been coated with an archival ground. Pastels are layered after an initial underpainting on the textured surface. Works begin with a general vision of color and value and develop as I interact with lines and colors. I am excited by the expressiveness of color and line making. My current work is often an emotive and intuitive response to a sense of place.

My ultimate goal is to create a richly textured pastel painting with beauty and depth that reflects the mystery and spirit of the natural world.
have won awards from Pastel Journal Magazine.