take us away from the predictable, the everyday. Although detours can take longer to get from point A to B, and open us up to failure, they can also offer us stimulation and a trip into the unknown. I am first and foremost a painter. But there is something in my soul that craves change, especially come summer. These three balloon images were created by reduction printing on a linoleum block. It requires backwards thinking and an acceptance of happy accidents. This secondary medium offers less control, I think, that direct painting. Working with unfamiliar paper, tools and mediums offers a different "feel" that my hands and my heart appreciate! Color mixing is key. So is the acceptance of imperfect shapes cut by blades that are unforgiving. I am no Joan Colbert, a friend and colleague whose prints both defy, to me, what can be done with these crude tools, and challenge the intellect. But that does not take away my joy, my pleasure in the creating of these images. I find that these challenges, these detours, inform the decisions I make in my drawings and paintings, as well as offer up an addition to my always-evolving sense of visual aesthetic.
These prints are on exhibition at The Open Door Coffee Company located at 164 N. Main Street in Hudson, Ohio. Drop in to see them and to sample Deborah's new line of scrumptious bite-size cupcakes!
