Hello, I'm Deborah Rich.

I grew up in South Monterey County in California before heading north to the University of Puget Sound to study Economics, then east to Georgetown to pursue an MBA. I worked in agricultural management and finance, raised two children and wrote dozens of articles for the San Francisco Chronicle on what I dubbed the intersection of Nature and Human Nature. Then I began to draw and then to paint, and my house has never been the same. Canvases dry in living room, kitchen and dining area, and paint smudges nearly every door handle. I paint from life whenever possible, and treasure my plein air easel and palette that enable me to paint alongside broccoli fields, beneath oak trees, and in hallways. I work with oil paints, and on the rare occasion begin with an acrylic paint base layer. My paintings are my response to what I am observing, to how the paints are handling that day, to the changing light, and to what is percolating in my growing art knowledge bank. I have yet to understand how painting and the study of art so enrich my life. Nor can I fully comprehend why good people will part with good and scarce money for an object that will not feed, clothe or shelter them. Yet I know that I am a better problem-solver, am more tolerant, curious, empathetic, and energized due to making art, studying art, and sitting with art. Perhaps that holds true for you as well. I am deeply grateful for and humbled by the gift of painting.