Deborah Walker
Biography
Deborah Walker currently lives in Barton-under-Needwood and paints from her studio-gallery, ‘the gallery @ Ridware Arts’, in Hamstall Ridware, Staffordshire, on the banks of the River Blythe. She gained a first-class honours degree in Fine Art from De Montfort University in 1985. In 2002 she founded Ridware Arts, providing studios and workshops for classes, talks and demonstrations. She was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2002, a Member of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists in 2006 and Chair of Staffordshire Open Studios in 2008. She opened ‘the gallery @ Ridware Arts’ in 2008 and was elected a member of the Royal Society of Marine Artists in 2018.
Artist Statement
I have always regarded drawing as the seminal process from which all art forms grow. Drawing as mark-making is an intrinsic part of being human; everybody does it, but developing a language of drawing and painting that can express feelings and emotional responses has always been my aim.
My paintings are concerned with landscape, both in broad expanses and in close-up detail, and express the dramatic and subtle ways in which light transforms a subject.
A recurring theme in my work is the depiction of water, as it provides a consistent challenge. My approach to watercolour embraces both representational and abstract elements, and I try to push the character of the paint to extremes.