As a child, Debbie lived with her mother, who just so happened to be the successful wildlife artist Daphne Baxter, and would often return home from school to find her mother painting at her easel. This, alongside an incredibly supportive art department at the school she attended, spurred Debbie on in her artistic journey.
Debbie has travelled far and wide searching for unique trees, forests and woodlands that grasped her imagination. One of her notable travels involved living in Indonesia as a trained nutritionist, educating communities about the effect of palm tree oil on health. Debbie stated:
“It was fascinating to witness the full circle of how trees affect human health, with heart disease being the biggest killer in Indonesia”
Debbie has recently had a solo exhibition at The Saffron Walden gallery titled “Into the Woods, A Celebration of Trees” featuring pieces such as ‘Birch Snowland’ and ‘Wistmands Wood’. Here, Debbie also signed copies of her book, produced in collaboration with poet Gary Milsom.
With multiple opportunities in the pipeline, Debbie will also be doing some work for the International Tree Federation, which aims to understand more about our relationship with the environment and why we should be planting more trees.
We were hugely proud to her that Debbie uses Larson-Juhl float frames when framing her own work, stating that she loves the effect they have when she paints on wood panel and how smooth they are.
Debbie has a brilliant relationship with her local farmer, which has come in handy when needing to utilise space for framing larger pieces
