Born in Guelph, Canada, Debra has found inspiration in the communities, landscapes and wildlife habitats of Canada, Australia and the United States. A retired cultural planner, she has devoted much of her working career nurturing and promoting cultural tourism, including in our region and assisting other artists in strengthening their artistic businesses. She now focuses on her own creative works which include portraits, landscapes, wildlife and ‘peoplescapes’. There is a narrative dimension in her work - she simultaneously strives to captures the beauty of nature while visually commenting on community life, or on our relationships with nature. The intention is to inspire the viewer’s imagination. Her work has been exhibited in juried shows in galleries in Canada and the USA.
For me, creating a painting is a process that starts with an idea, a vague image in my mind or sometimes from a dream. I describe my work as ‘imaginary realism’ - I am more interested in playing with subject matter, inventing the composition to make a statement, than simply recreating exactly what I see in front of me. I work predominantly in oil and acrylic, allowing the images to take shape on the canvas, often changing as I go. My landscapes are playful explorations of the incredible patterns in nature. My portraits are the expression of human emotions. And many of my paintings combine landscape, portrait and wildlife elements to say something about our relationships with the other creatures who share the planet with us.
Debra Soule