Debra Claffey

Joined Artfinder: March 2014

Artworks for sale: 3

United States

About Debra Claffey

 
 
  • Biography
    The biology, fractal design, and stunning beauty of plant systems are what draw me to these complex natural forms again and again.
    Visual songs. Excursions into color, form, and texture. Music is visual for me and the visual is musical. I combine opacity and translucence, scribbled line against an illusion of depth,  thick surfaces with pale washes, sometimes carving and scraping back to reveal buried layers. Each piece becomes an exploration of the tensions between flat surface and pictorial depth.
    My subject is plant foliage, sometimes with everyday objects from my life as a professional landscape gardener, arranged to accentuate their varied forms and shapes in complex compositions--orchestrations of light and dark, shape and rhythm.

  • Links
  • Education

    2001 - 2004

    University of New Hampshire, Thompson School of Applied Science

    1978 - 1981

    School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston

  • Awards

    2020

    Second Place Award

    Second Place Award, Garden Marks I, Chester Gallery of Art, New England College Henniker, NH

    Show more awards Hide

    2020

    Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

    Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts provided funds to attend the online Yellow Chair Salon with master painter Michael David, New York and Atlanta.

    2019

    Juror’s Award,

    For "Patterning", Anything But Flat Exhibition, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. Juror: Joanne Mattera

    2018

    Second Place Award

    Indigo Ice, # 6
    Monotype (36″36″)

    In celebration of the expansive vision and myriad techniques employed by monotype and monoprint artists throughout the United States, the Monotype Guild of New England is pleased to present 100 works of art by 100 artists for it’s 2018 National Juried Exhibition. These prints were selected from over 660 prints submitted by 248 American artists from across 33 states.

    2011

    Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

    Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts provided travel funds to attend the International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

    1996

    Bank of New Hampshire Award, Ann’s Garden, No. 12, 50th Annual Exhibition, The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH

    Bank of New Hampshire Award for "Ann’s Garden, No. 12",
    50th Annual Exhibition, The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH
  • Upcoming Events

    There are no upcoming events

    Show previous events Hide previous events

    Previous events

    Event: Syncopated Rhythm: Debra Claffey,

    Dates: 10 Jan 2020 - 7 Feb 2020

    Venue: AVA Gallery, New Hampshire

    I use contemplation as a way to focus on ways to restore a balance to our relationship of Human to Nature. Plants and trees are intelligent beings that we have disrespected in so many ways, and we must reconnect. Our roots are in the earth, amid the myriad forms of life in the soil, in the wind, and in the seas.
    The exhibition: paintings on panels, made with varying combinations of encaustic, oil, oil and wax, graphite, and other mixed media of plants and foliage, sometimes with still life objects such as a mandolin, cup, pitcher, or chair in the composition. The paintings have lots of drawing in them; I value the hand-drawn line as a carrier of emotion and feeling.

    Event: Hidden Lives, Paintings by Debra Claffey

    Dates: 3 Mar 2019 - 10 May 2019

    Venue: Gateway Gallery at Great Bay Community College, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.

    Large-scale works for a large atrium. I used the opportunity to stretch and make some really large work, paintings with encaustic, oil and mixed media, up to six feet tall and 12 feet wide.

    Event: Elemental: Contemporary Encaustic

    Dates: 17 Jul 2018 - 14 Jul 2019

    Venue: D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts

    Elemental: Contemporary Encaustic
    July 17, 2018–July 14, 2019

    Debra Claffey, Patricia Gerkin, Donna Hamil Talman, and Charyl Weissbach make up the four artist collective called Elemental. Working in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the artists of Elemental meld the ancient medium of encaustic, or melted wax, with a modern topic. The pieces in this exhibition explore the human relationship to the natural environment, advocating for a more connected, sustainable approach in the 21st century. The textured surfaces and layered compositions of these pieces sometimes evoke the topography of the earth’s surface, the patterns of plant life, or reinvent the traditional seascape painting.

    Event: Organic to Geometric: Investigations in Structure and Surface

    Dates: 25 May 2018 - 24 Jun 2018

    Venue: Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA

    This exhibition explores the wide-ranging investigations of 25 artists, into the use of materiality in painting, printmaking, and sculpture. The primary medium that binds this group of artists is wax. Curator Carol Pelletier originally conceived of this idea at the first Organic to Geometric show at the Heftler Gallery at Endicott College in 2015. From hard-edged abstractions to gritty organic surfaces, to sophisticated pattern to suspended natural structures, the show represents a perspective that reveals varied processes while carrying conceptual depth.

    Event: Fifth National Monotype/Monoprint Juried Exhibition

    Dates: 6 May 2018 - 2 Sep 2018

    Venue: The Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA

    FIFTH NATIONAL MONOTYPE /MONOPRINT JURIED EXHIBITION
    AT THE ART COMPLEX MUSEUM: MAY 6 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
    “The monotype expresses the emotion of the artist in a way that no other medium does. Through monotypes, we have insights into the artist’s soul. One has only to survey the monotypes I have selected for this exhibition to see how the feelings of artists infuse the works and give them their impact.” – Judith Brodsky, Juror

    100 works of art by 100 artists. Indigo Ice, #6 was Second Place Award winner.

    Event: Paintings with Drawing

    Dates: 1 Nov 2016 - 9 Dec 2016

    Venue: Galletly Gallery, New Hampton, New Hampshire, US

    A solo exhibition of more than 23 works on panel, featuring plant forms and foliage in an expressive and abstract form. The exhibition photos can be viewed at this link: http://debraclaffey.com/2017/05/14/paintings-with-drawing/

    An exhibition catalog is available at blurb.com: http://www.blurb.com/b/7443573-paintings-with-drawing

    Event: Breaking Boundaries

    Dates: 2 Jan 2014 - 26 Jan 2014

    Venue: Fountain Street Fine Art, Framingham, MA

    Fountain Street Fine Art, Framingham, MA. Jurors: Sara Zela and Lauren O’Neal.

Links


Education

2001 - 2004

University of New Hampshire, Thompson School of Applied Science

1978 - 1981

School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston


Awards

2020

Second Place Award

Second Place Award, Garden Marks I, Chester Gallery of Art, New England College Henniker, NH

Show more awards Hide

2020

Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts provided funds to attend the online Yellow Chair Salon with master painter Michael David, New York and Atlanta.

2019

Juror’s Award,

For "Patterning", Anything But Flat Exhibition, Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill. Juror: Joanne Mattera

2018

Second Place Award

Indigo Ice, # 6
Monotype (36″36″)

In celebration of the expansive vision and myriad techniques employed by monotype and monoprint artists throughout the United States, the Monotype Guild of New England is pleased to present 100 works of art by 100 artists for it’s 2018 National Juried Exhibition. These prints were selected from over 660 prints submitted by 248 American artists from across 33 states.

2011

Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts

Artist Entrepreneurial Grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts provided travel funds to attend the International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, Massachusetts.

1996

Bank of New Hampshire Award, Ann’s Garden, No. 12, 50th Annual Exhibition, The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH

Bank of New Hampshire Award for "Ann’s Garden, No. 12",
50th Annual Exhibition, The Currier Gallery of Art, Manchester, NH

There are no upcoming events

Show previous events Hide previous events

Previous events

Event: Syncopated Rhythm: Debra Claffey,

Dates: 10 Jan 2020 - 7 Feb 2020

Venue: AVA Gallery, New Hampshire

I use contemplation as a way to focus on ways to restore a balance to our relationship of Human to Nature. Plants and trees are intelligent beings that we have disrespected in so many ways, and we must reconnect. Our roots are in the earth, amid the myriad forms of life in the soil, in the wind, and in the seas.
The exhibition: paintings on panels, made with varying combinations of encaustic, oil, oil and wax, graphite, and other mixed media of plants and foliage, sometimes with still life objects such as a mandolin, cup, pitcher, or chair in the composition. The paintings have lots of drawing in them; I value the hand-drawn line as a carrier of emotion and feeling.

Event: Hidden Lives, Paintings by Debra Claffey

Dates: 3 Mar 2019 - 10 May 2019

Venue: Gateway Gallery at Great Bay Community College, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, U.S.

Large-scale works for a large atrium. I used the opportunity to stretch and make some really large work, paintings with encaustic, oil and mixed media, up to six feet tall and 12 feet wide.

Event: Elemental: Contemporary Encaustic

Dates: 17 Jul 2018 - 14 Jul 2019

Venue: D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts

Elemental: Contemporary Encaustic
July 17, 2018–July 14, 2019

Debra Claffey, Patricia Gerkin, Donna Hamil Talman, and Charyl Weissbach make up the four artist collective called Elemental. Working in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the artists of Elemental meld the ancient medium of encaustic, or melted wax, with a modern topic. The pieces in this exhibition explore the human relationship to the natural environment, advocating for a more connected, sustainable approach in the 21st century. The textured surfaces and layered compositions of these pieces sometimes evoke the topography of the earth’s surface, the patterns of plant life, or reinvent the traditional seascape painting.

Event: Organic to Geometric: Investigations in Structure and Surface

Dates: 25 May 2018 - 24 Jun 2018

Venue: Provincetown Art Association and Museum, Provincetown, Massachusetts, USA

This exhibition explores the wide-ranging investigations of 25 artists, into the use of materiality in painting, printmaking, and sculpture. The primary medium that binds this group of artists is wax. Curator Carol Pelletier originally conceived of this idea at the first Organic to Geometric show at the Heftler Gallery at Endicott College in 2015. From hard-edged abstractions to gritty organic surfaces, to sophisticated pattern to suspended natural structures, the show represents a perspective that reveals varied processes while carrying conceptual depth.

Event: Fifth National Monotype/Monoprint Juried Exhibition

Dates: 6 May 2018 - 2 Sep 2018

Venue: The Art Complex Museum, 189 Alden Street, Duxbury, MA

FIFTH NATIONAL MONOTYPE /MONOPRINT JURIED EXHIBITION
AT THE ART COMPLEX MUSEUM: MAY 6 – SEPTEMBER 2, 2018
“The monotype expresses the emotion of the artist in a way that no other medium does. Through monotypes, we have insights into the artist’s soul. One has only to survey the monotypes I have selected for this exhibition to see how the feelings of artists infuse the works and give them their impact.” – Judith Brodsky, Juror

100 works of art by 100 artists. Indigo Ice, #6 was Second Place Award winner.

Event: Paintings with Drawing

Dates: 1 Nov 2016 - 9 Dec 2016

Venue: Galletly Gallery, New Hampton, New Hampshire, US

A solo exhibition of more than 23 works on panel, featuring plant forms and foliage in an expressive and abstract form. The exhibition photos can be viewed at this link: http://debraclaffey.com/2017/05/14/paintings-with-drawing/

An exhibition catalog is available at blurb.com: http://www.blurb.com/b/7443573-paintings-with-drawing

Event: Breaking Boundaries

Dates: 2 Jan 2014 - 26 Jan 2014

Venue: Fountain Street Fine Art, Framingham, MA

Fountain Street Fine Art, Framingham, MA. Jurors: Sara Zela and Lauren O’Neal.


 

Biography

The biology, fractal design, and stunning beauty of plant systems are what draw me to these complex natural forms again and again.
Visual songs. Excursions into color, form, and texture. Music is visual for me and the visual is musical. I combine opacity and translucence, scribbled line against an illusion of depth,  thick surfaces with pale washes, sometimes carving and scraping back to reveal buried layers. Each piece becomes an exploration of the tensions between flat surface and pictorial depth.
My subject is plant foliage, sometimes with everyday objects from my life as a professional landscape gardener, arranged to accentuate their varied forms and shapes in complex compositions--orchestrations of light and dark, shape and rhythm.