Debra Reid Jenkins age 52 resides in Lowell MI with her husband Garth and her dogs,
Summer, a smooth collie and Grace, a hound mix. She works full time as a painter at her
Lowell studio at 1323 Alden Nash Ave NE.
Debra attended Kendall School of Design for 2 years in illustration before changing direction
to pursue fine art at Aquinas College majoring in painting with focus on figurative work.
During the time at Aquinas she began a career in high end furniture decorating known as
Chinoiserie, raised and gilded oriental decorations. This spanned fifteen years with
employment at John Widdicomb and Hekman Furniture where she managed the decorating
department and trained the staff. The last ten years she worked as a freelance artist for
LaBarge Mirrors in Holland MI painting market samples, custom mirrors and production work.
In 1990 Debra left the furniture field to pursue her own painting career full time. At that time
she also created a line of seasonal, limited edition gilded hand decorated glass Christmas
ornaments which she marketed through Michigan galleries.
Debra cites the works of Joaquin Sorolla, Anders Zorn, Mark Tobey, Hokusai, and Yoshida
Hiroshi as having been a great influence in her work. Her paintings both in oil and soft pastel
consist of figurative and landscape work reminiscent of American Impressionism. Interested
in the emotive response to color and light her paintings generally reflect a specific time of day.
The orchard paintings evolved from having grown up with cherry orchards and a fascination
with trees full of flowers which last usually less than a week. She has traveled around
northern Michigan when the orchards are in bloom and painted countless field studies on
location. Creating monoprints based on field studies has led to an investigation of
composition that at times becomes more pattern oriented while at the same time depicting
the 'real'.
The figurative series of people on beaches have been a response to the sumi brush work
Debra has practiced for years. Influenced by the Japanese hanging scrolls known as
kakemono-e with their unique spatial relationships she has replaced the calligraphy with the
figure. Working with the human gesture and breaking many of the rules of composition found
in traditional western painting Debra is working toward creating space that exists beyond the
picture plane as well as a specific moment in time.
Debra has also illustrated Virginia Kroll's book "I wanted to know all about God", "I see the
Moon" by Kathi Appelt, and most recently she has illustrated "My Freedom Trip" by Francis
and Ginger Park, based on a true story of a child's escape from North Korea, published by
Boyd's Mills Press. Debra has also illustrated book covers for Gloria Whelan's books
published by Eerdman's Publishing Company. She also illustrates for Ladybug and Babybug
magazines of the Cricket Magazine Group.
In 1989 Debra was elected to signature membership in the Pastel Society of America. She
is also a member of the Gilder's Society promoting the use of the ancient craft of gold leaf
work, both in oil and water gilding in contemporary art work. She works on commission on
both new and restoration pieces.
A recipient of the Black Sash in Tai Chi, Debra has practiced as an assistant instructor in
Yang style Tai Chi, sword, Wushu and Pa Kua.
In 1995 Debra was the recipient of American Artist Magazine's Emerging Artist award.
In 2001 was listed in “Who’s Who in America”.
Her artwork is represented by Perception Gallery and Gallery 154 in Grand Rapids MI, the
Button Gallery in Douglas MI, Synchronicity Gallery in Glen Arbor MI, and The Hawthorn Gallery
in Birmingham AL, Polanaise Art Gallery, Woodstock VT and is also in several private and
corporate collections.
Summer, a smooth collie and Grace, a hound mix. She works full time as a painter at her
Lowell studio at 1323 Alden Nash Ave NE.
Debra attended Kendall School of Design for 2 years in illustration before changing direction
to pursue fine art at Aquinas College majoring in painting with focus on figurative work.
During the time at Aquinas she began a career in high end furniture decorating known as
Chinoiserie, raised and gilded oriental decorations. This spanned fifteen years with
employment at John Widdicomb and Hekman Furniture where she managed the decorating
department and trained the staff. The last ten years she worked as a freelance artist for
LaBarge Mirrors in Holland MI painting market samples, custom mirrors and production work.
In 1990 Debra left the furniture field to pursue her own painting career full time. At that time
she also created a line of seasonal, limited edition gilded hand decorated glass Christmas
ornaments which she marketed through Michigan galleries.
Debra cites the works of Joaquin Sorolla, Anders Zorn, Mark Tobey, Hokusai, and Yoshida
Hiroshi as having been a great influence in her work. Her paintings both in oil and soft pastel
consist of figurative and landscape work reminiscent of American Impressionism. Interested
in the emotive response to color and light her paintings generally reflect a specific time of day.
The orchard paintings evolved from having grown up with cherry orchards and a fascination
with trees full of flowers which last usually less than a week. She has traveled around
northern Michigan when the orchards are in bloom and painted countless field studies on
location. Creating monoprints based on field studies has led to an investigation of
composition that at times becomes more pattern oriented while at the same time depicting
the 'real'.
The figurative series of people on beaches have been a response to the sumi brush work
Debra has practiced for years. Influenced by the Japanese hanging scrolls known as
kakemono-e with their unique spatial relationships she has replaced the calligraphy with the
figure. Working with the human gesture and breaking many of the rules of composition found
in traditional western painting Debra is working toward creating space that exists beyond the
picture plane as well as a specific moment in time.
Debra has also illustrated Virginia Kroll's book "I wanted to know all about God", "I see the
Moon" by Kathi Appelt, and most recently she has illustrated "My Freedom Trip" by Francis
and Ginger Park, based on a true story of a child's escape from North Korea, published by
Boyd's Mills Press. Debra has also illustrated book covers for Gloria Whelan's books
published by Eerdman's Publishing Company. She also illustrates for Ladybug and Babybug
magazines of the Cricket Magazine Group.
In 1989 Debra was elected to signature membership in the Pastel Society of America. She
is also a member of the Gilder's Society promoting the use of the ancient craft of gold leaf
work, both in oil and water gilding in contemporary art work. She works on commission on
both new and restoration pieces.
A recipient of the Black Sash in Tai Chi, Debra has practiced as an assistant instructor in
Yang style Tai Chi, sword, Wushu and Pa Kua.
In 1995 Debra was the recipient of American Artist Magazine's Emerging Artist award.
In 2001 was listed in “Who’s Who in America”.
Her artwork is represented by Perception Gallery and Gallery 154 in Grand Rapids MI, the
Button Gallery in Douglas MI, Synchronicity Gallery in Glen Arbor MI, and The Hawthorn Gallery
in Birmingham AL, Polanaise Art Gallery, Woodstock VT and is also in several private and
corporate collections.
About the artist
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