Deborah Petrucci

For most of my life as an artist, I have focused on land or cityscape as my content and inspiration for oil paintings. Through the years there have been departures into fashion illustration, pencil studies of vegetables, nudes, abstracts and architectural renderings, but my love of travel and the images I see and live while there, have always won me back. In 2009 there was a shift in consciousness.  I bought a book about the natural wonders of the world and saw many a marvel from the air, often creating abstracted content.  I began picking out sections of these photographs and recreating them as oil paintings and eventually came upon my now signature 14" square format.  My yearly visits to Florida and frequent walks, started me looking more enthusiastically at nature and what better than the palm trees lining my many paths.   Upon close observation and the near microscopic ability of my camera, I began photographing a secret world of complexity, beauty and unexpected content.  A simple break in the trunk revealed a world of color and texture, or smooth terrain like a snow laden slope or bone.  What happens underneath the palm fronds is magical with its many nuts, fruits, flowers, needles, vines and projections, providing such opportunity for abstraction, as well as close literal study. My series, Nature Microcosms, was born. I single out a particular composition while photographing or painting to create either intricate realism or abstraction.  I am struck by the micro/macrocosmic aspects - a small detail can also be read as the earth from above; the similarities of all natural forms, including the inner workings of humans. I am forced to slow down and marvel at the smallest detail and often turn it into something whimsical and even more beautiful  My focus, as I continue with palms and the four seasons in nature, is the juxtaposition of hard and soft line, complexity and quiet, textured and smooth effects.  My upcoming paintings have an ethereal mood and softness similar to the wonder and fragility of a newborn. I have come upon a world of wonders without borders.

2005-2006PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN - New York, N.Y. Interior Design Certificate 1997-2004     SUNY PURCHASE COLLEGE - Purchase, N.Y. – 100 credits towards BFA 1992-1996WESTCHESTER COMMUNITY COLLEGE - Valhalla, N.Y. Applied Art Certificate 2000-2002THE SWEDISH INSTITUTE OF MASSAGE THERAPY NEW YORK COLLEGE Courses in advanced massage techniques. 1981        THE SWEDISH INSTITUTE OF MASSAGE THERAPY, New York, N.Y. Massage Therapist - License # 002651-1