Deborah Howard-Page

Artist Statement

My "Garden Variety" series of mixed media portraits continues to focus on creatures found in and around urban gardens. Its history: while I was in the U.K., a few photographs of birds in a newspaper caught my eye. I tore out the pages, compelled to paint them - especially an image of a tiny robin fledgling. I then went on to portray a woodpecker, a thrush, an owl, and then cardinals, including ghostly images of tree branches, nests, thickets, holes, honeycombed hives, or bird houses, hinting at the loss of abode and habitat. I went online for permission from photographers to use their images of hummingbirds, other birds, caterpillars, moths, spiders, butterflies, bees. Oh, BEES! A honeybee on a flower was next, and then bees doing things bees do on honeycomb (this last, in particular, a natural outcome of my love for beeswax encaustic, please see below). My mixed media art uses oils over layers of encaustic (an ancient technique of painting with molten wax and damar resin), which contain flecks of gold leaf, feathers, other found objects, wallpaper, origami, sparkles, and/or other decorative papers. I also sell handmade resin pieces, plus Cafe Press items, all featuring my art images!