About Deborah E. Watson

“No great artist ever sees things as they really are. If he did, he would cease to be an artist."
—Oscar Wilde

Deborah Watson is an award-winning artist from Calvert County, Maryland, whose work has been described as “stunning” and “riveting.”

Deciding to take the leap in 2003, Deborah has, since then, devoted her career to exclusively creating art. Deb is a versatile artist and finds it enriching to paint a wide variety of subjects. She is as comfortable painting a miniature watercolor still life that is two-by-three inches as she is painting wall murals or stage scenery twelve-by-twenty feet in size. Having studied art at Prince George’s Community College, The Art League School in Alexandria, VA, at many workshops and classes, as well as through self-instruction, Deborah feels that she continues to learn valuable lessons from each piece of art she creates.

Art is part of my being. I cannot remember a time when I have not loved to draw and paint. My objective in making art is to share the way I "see" with others.

Working with transparent watercolors in many layers, I am able to capture brilliant color and exquisite light, which define my still life paintings of silver, glass and other reflective surfaces. My work is primarily representational, but it is intriguing finding abstract shapes in reflections and rendering the miniature explosions of color contained in those shapes, while still using the white of the paper to impart the feeling of light.

I paint in watercolors and in acrylics. My subjects can be anything from landscapes and flowers to shop windows and historic buildings to pet portraits. In all my work, I continue to focus on dynamic color and light, along with strong composition. I strive to recreate for the viewer the feeling of the places I have visited and the beauty of creation. Having an innate sense of humor, I also paint the unusual. Such paintings as those of vending machine contents, a friend's hands playing his guitar, or a spilled bag of marbles are fun surprises among paintings of more traditional subjects.

Most recently, I am using acrylics to render Trompe L'oeil (French for 'trick the eye') paintings. Objects painted in the trompe l'oeil technique appear so authentic that the viewer wants to interact with the painting by wanting to touch what seems to be real.

I am a signature member of the Baltimore Watercolor society and have been juried into many national exhibits. My works have been accepted into open juried exhibits and have received awards, including "Juror's Choice" and "First Place". My paintings hang in private collections throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and as far away as Great Britain.