Debra Buchanan

8 x 10 inches Oil on canvas, Private Collection

This is a painting again of my muse, Charlie. She is a talented, gifted pianist who has been composing classical style music since the age of 9/10. She loves the artist Billy Joel and knows all of his music, hence the title, “Piano Girl”

Oil on gessoed hardboard, 9 x 12 inches

Private Collection

Charlie, my niece, spending the weekend at my house built a tent in the center of the living room as children love to do. She had a pink blanket draped over an antique table I purchased at Shipshewanna then placed a pillow on it to watch TV. The light from the window was illuminating her from such an unusual angle and just struck me, so I grabbed my camera snapping several photos before she moved. This is the end result titled simply, “The Tent.” I had tucked the painting away unfinished and years later began a new one because I wasn’t satisfied with the original composition. Once she knew I had started a new painting, she asked if she could have the first one. I laughed and complimented her on her artistic eye, as this is one of my all time favorites. I told her where she could find the unfinished painting and after she found her little treasure I told her I had to work on it again before she took it. I didn’t feel right giving her an incomplete painting. I finished it, now I want to keep it, but I promised it to her.

Oil on Belgian portrait linen, SOLD

Private Collection of Edward Aimsworth, Texas

Third Award, 87th Toledo Area Artist Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art

Faculty Exhibition, Walter E. Terhune Gallery, Owens Community College, Perrysburg, Ohio

Published: Toledo Blade, January 28, 2005, The Perrysburg Journal, June 10, 2019

Sold to Edward Aimsworth Dallas, Texas, from the TAA Exhibition then after Edward passed away, it was passed on to his nephew Al Baldwin

This is another of my favorite portrait subjects, My best friend Suzzanne. She is a Hungarian beauty and extremely photogenic. I call her to pose frequently. We were at my house in the living room. She was sitting in an antique chair from the old Waldorf Hotel that I purchased for $25.00 from a neighbor’s garage sale. It was the time of longs shadows as the sun was setting and bursting through my window. As you might be able to tell from seeing my work, I love dramatic lighting. It is really difficult to capture the coloration of this painting in a photo as there is actually very little flesh tone used. The flesh in shadow is blue and the flesh in bright light is yellow and white. The flesh color appears in a narrow slice where the light and shadows meet. You almost have to see this work in person to appreciate not only the unusual use of color, but the detail and glow in the eyes.

Oil on portrait linen, 21 X 18 inches

First Place Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Swanton, Ohio 2018

2017 Prizm Art-a-Fair Invitational Exhibition, One SeaGate, Toledo, Ohio

Private collection Jodi Grel

This is a painting of Isaiah at Easter time. Dressed in his Sunday best, you can see he wan’t exactly happy with the tie. Interestingly enough, the background including the floor are variations of the same two colors, Still de grain and Egyptian violet repeated again in the hair and curtain.

Oil on linen, 6 X 4 inches, SOLD

Private collection of Edward Aimsworth, Dallas Texas

Hancock Youth Leadership Award, Findlay Art League's 29th Annual Juried Show, Findlay, Ohio

I had just purchased my first digital camera with money I had earned from an award. Charlie was spending time at my house and perched her little chin at the arm of the chair. I had the macro lens attached to my camera and wanted to experiment with a close up shot. I have always been fascinated with her expressive stunning blue eyes, so how could I resist painting this? I couldn’t. My only regret besides selling it, is that I sold it before I could get a professional photo taken of the painting. Edward Aimsworth contacted me telling he’d be in Toledo and wanted to come to my studio to see what paintings I had available. He had purchased one of my paintings the year before from the Toledo Museum of Art. I had this painting hanging on my wall with no intention of selling it, so when Edward asked how much it cost, I quoted him what I thought to be an outrageous price for a painting that was only 6 x 4 inches thinking he’d say no. To my surprise, he bought the painting and selected another in progress painting to purchase upon its completion.

Oil on linen over hard board, Private Collection of Jodi Grel

First Place, 2010, Salon de Refuse, Parkwood Gallery, The Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, Toledo, Ohio

Like Vincent Van Gough’s models, my nieces and nephews will be well documented and immortalized in paintings. One of the reasons I love to paint these children is because they are so not the smile for the camera kind of kids. They are grumpy little curmudgeons and I love their expressions. Charlie was actually blowing spit bubbles from her little lips. How do you not love the defiance and personality of these kids?

Oil on canvas over hardboard

Best of Show and First Place, Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Swanton, Ohio

Private Collection, Jodi Grel

Molly Morepeth Canaday Award for Painting, 93rd Toledo Area Artist Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio

Published: Toledo Blade, August28, 2011, Toledo Museum of art, Artmatters, September-December 2011, Toledo Museum of Art, Late Exhibition Brochure, 93rd Toledo Area Artist 2011 Exhibition Catalog

I was with my Niece, my Dad, and her children at Pearson Park for an outing. We were at the playground jungle gym and Evan was peeking at me from above through the grate when I snapped this photo with no thought of using it as reference for a painting. Once I saw the image, I fell in love with the glowing hot light through the grate, his ear, and fingers while by contrast the majority of his face and hands are in cool shadow. How could I resist painting this image given my passion for dramatic lighting?

oil on Belgian portrait linen

I continue to work on her flesh. She has the most golden dark brown skin and I have the most difficult time capturing it in paint. This will be the third time I have tweaked/repainted the flesh. During the drawing phase, I had the eye in the shadows perfectly, then lost it in the painting process, called Sue to pose live for me. I went to her home and had her son Joshua, my Godson hold the painting next to her so I could position her accurately and sketched her eyes. It took only moments and when I was finished, Sue commented, “I can’t believe you did that.” I laughed only because I had been painting her for years, but she had never seen me actually draw, she had only seen the paintings in progress or completed.

Oil on portrait linen

Private collection of Suzzanne Kristof-Utter

Yet again another portrait of Suzzanne. I called her one day after seeing an expose’ on the oldest cemetery in Toledo and just had to go there. There were stunning monuments and headstones. The sun was setting and glistening though the trees as she posed on a bench under a columned monument. The monument was carved with a saying that I paraphrased as the title, “Until Daybreak and Shadows Flee”

Oil on linen, 18 X 24 inches

Commissioned by Dr. Sydney Smith

Private Collection of Calvin Jones

This is a simple oil sketch trying out a new substrate.

Private Collection of Don Rowland

This was a commissioned work. The client had the idea of painting his son on one of his first violins and I said, why not try? This is the end result after a few missteps of trial and error.

Toledo Area Artist Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio

2002 Great Lakes Pastel Society Regional Exhibition, Birmingham, Michigan

Collection of the Artist

Pastel on 100% black rag paper.

The Weekly, 3-30-00: Rebecca Golden, “Debra Buchanan has two works in the show. “Red Plaid Shirt,” a pastel portrait depicting a man in a red plaid shirt. His piercing brown eyes gaze warily at the world through black-rimmed glasses. His dark hair is graying in a way people refer to as distinguished. Through the red plaid of the title shirt is perfectly rendered - indeed, the medium really lends itself to creating the texture of flannel - it seems as though this man would feel much more at home in a three-piece suit, complete with power tie. Something in his steady gaze conveys an authority belied by his attire. The portrait compels attention and is worthy of a second glance.”

Collection of the artist

Pastel on 100% black rag paper

Charcoal

Honorable Mention, 100+5 Toledo Federation of Artist Exhibition, University of Toledo Center for Visual Arts

38th Annual Michigan Fine Art Competition and Exhibition, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI

110th Allied Artist Exhibition online

Charcoal on Strathmore series 400 paper with white charcoal and graphite accents, 23 x 34 inches.

Although I didn’t take the photo, I did develop and print it. I was standing in an archway, so I couldn’t see the cast shadow that I knew should be there. So, I had my niece, coincidently age 21 post for my with appropriate lighting of course. The shadows were no where I thought they would be. The concept is that at age 21, your life is pretty much a blank slate as well as my life as an artist being undetermined.

Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-419-255-8000.

RICHMOND ART MUSEUM 126th Annual Exhibition by Indiana and Ohio Artists, Richmond, Indiana

111th Annual Allied Artists of America online Exhibition

Honorable Mention, NOWOH Exhibition, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio

Charcoal both white and black with graphite accents on Strathmore 400 series paper, 21.5 x 31.5 inches

Charcoal and graphite drawing.

Graphite and charcoal on paper, 17 x 15 inches

110th Allied Artist Exhibition online

Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Swanton, Ohio

Charcoal on Strathmore series 400 paper with white charcoal and graphite accents, 23 x 34 inches.

Although I didn’t take the photo, I did develop and print it. I was standing in an archway, so I couldn’t see the cast shadow that I knew should be there. So, I had my niece, coincidently age 21 post for my with appropriate lighting of course. The shadows were no where I thought they would be. The concept is that at age 21, your life is pretty much a blank slate as well as my life as an artist being undetermined.

Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-419-255-8000.

Charcoal and Graphite 25 x 21 inches.

Charcoal and graphite, 14 x 17 inches

77th Annual Ohio Exhibition, Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, Ohio

Swanton Fine Art Exhibition

32 x 34 inches, charcoal

TFAS Exhibition, University of Toledo Center for Visual Arts Gallery, Toledo Ohio, Honorable mention

38th Annual Michigan Fine Art Competition and Exhibition, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, MI

Charcoal drawing

29 x 37 drawing, Framed 35x 44 inches

Robin D. Henry Merit Award 126th Annual Exhibition by Indiana and Ohio Artists, Richmond Art Museum, Richmond, IN

RICHMOND ART MUSEUM 126th Annual Exhibition by Indiana and Ohio Artists, Richmond, Indiana

American Artists Professional League's 96th Grand National Exhibition, Finalists

Allied Artists of America online show 2024

2024 Ohio Artist Registry Exhibition

16th Annual Northwest Ohio Community Art Show (Now OH) Awarded Best In Show

76 Annual Ohio Exhibition, Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, Ohio, 2022

Time Will Tell Exhibition, Colburn Gallery Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio, 2022

Finalist in Martha’s Vineyard Drawing Prize, Martha’s Vineyard, MA 2021

Featured in Toledo Museum of Art’s publication, arTMAtters, spring 2021

Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner

I took the reference photo for this piece while in college with my Father’s 1950s Leica SLR. I printed it, developed it and have always loved the image. My first passion as an artist is drawing. I taught myself how to draw at age twelve. Always wanting to do more with this image, I decided to make it into a drawing.

Now the photo was taken across the street from my family home on Vinal Street, the home I grew up in and my parents lived in until my Father’s death. The background was a cinderblock duplex painted mint green, demolished now. Back in the day the area I grew up in was referred to as the Ironwood neighborhood of East Toledo, the wrong side of the river. It was Easter time, cold as Easter sometimes is and overcast. I was just getting into my car to return to Columbus when I spotted this trio walking down the street. I grabbed my camera and snapped the photo.

Many, many years later as I began this drawing. I decided to find out if I could, who these young girls were. I contacted a neighborhood friend on Facebook and she posted the image and to my surprise, she actually found out information. The two younger girls were twins, not identical as you can see, one of which had passed away, however sadly, no one knew who the middle girl was. The twin’s mother was thrilled to have a copy of the photo I might add.

I choose to change the background, however it took me an obscene amount of time to decide how to tell as story with the image. I thought and thought on how to give this meaning beyond the image. I decided to use a fence, an old rickety, hodgepodge wooden fence, something that I would have seen in my neighborhood as a child. The subject of the fence became important because fences either keep us out or keep something in. The old adage playing in my psyche, the grass is always greener… I made a choice to use a grass like texture behind the fence and just a dirt path with a few weeds growing along the fence on the front side. In todays world with the Black Lives Matter Movement, I thought it a fitting tribute and contemporary piece for todays world.

Charcoal on watercolor paper 27 x 19 inches

16th Annual Northwest Ohio Community Art Show (Now OH)

InauguralMartha’s Vineyard Drawing Prize, Finalist

First Place, Ohio Annual Exhibition, Zanesville Museum of Art, Zanesville, Ohio

First Place Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Swanton, Ohio

Private collection of Jodi Grel

Another funny story. I asked my niece Charlie to pose for me as she had done since she was a baby. I took probably 200 photos. I selected this a photo for reference and her mother tells me she hates the image. I respond just wait until I’m finished. And I of course was correct, she loves the drawing.

First Place, Drawing, and People’s Choice Award, Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Swanton, Ohio

Charcoal on watercolor paper, 19 x 27 inches

Private Collection

Charcoal and graphite on watercolor paper, 21 x 26 inches

Charcoal, Private Collection of Molly and Devan Eckman

I taught myself to draw at age twelve and by age 14 was drawing photo realism. While drawing is my first love and comes easily to me after so many years of practice, I am not always excited about the images. This drawing however intrigued me because of the stocking caps. I wanted to capture the texture of the knitted hats and had so much fun doing it. I was also challenged by the two figures looking directly at each other and captured that perfectly.

Graphite on bristol board

Private Collection of Jodi Grel

Graphite on Bristol board

Printed in Toledo Museum of Art, Artmatters, September-December 2011

Sold

So, funny story, these are selfies that Molly had taken of herself and I asked permission to draw them. They were taken on her cell and the quality was poor so I went to her house to have her pose for me so I could get her nose right. Molly asks, “Aunt Debbie, when do I get my drawing?” I’m not biologically her aunt, but my Godsons always called me Aunt and she is their cousin and began calling me Aunt as well and even as an adult, I am honored that she stills refers to me as Aunt. I respond to her telling her that I have to take it to the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner in an attempt to sell it as that was how I made a living, but when I got it back I would give it to her, because I was pretty sure no one would purchase a portrait of someone they didn’t know to hang on their wall. I was thinking that someone might be interested in having a commissioned portrait done after seeing the drawing. Fortunately/unfortunately, it sold. All I had to give her was a copy of the museum’s publication Artmatters that the image was printed in. So, when she got married, I did a charcoal drawing of her and her husband as a gift.

Graphite on watercolor paper 23 X 37 inches

2009 Picasso Award, Prizm Member's Show, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, Fine Art Center, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green Ohio

Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Swanton, Ohio

2014 7th Annual NOWOH Show, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, Fine Art Center, Bowling Green State University, B. G. Ohio

I was fascinated by the idea of a form inside a form. Never having experienced pregnancy myself, I was mesmerized by this image while working on the tummy. I had always thought that a woman’s pregnant tummy was a smooth round surface only to realize that it is more fluid in nature, constantly changing taking on the shape of the moving infant. Captivating. I attempted to count the hours I had into this drawing as that information would help me price commissions in the future. I stopped counting at 200 hours. The only paper I could find large enough at the time was watercolor paper. The surface of the substrate was highly textured and I struggled against that through the entire drawing. Now I have resources for larger paper, that will no longer be a problem.

Charcoal

Toledo Area Artist Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art

These are some of my first charcoal drawings. In collage I had repeatedly taken Dennis Drummond’s drawing class as he made it clear he didn’t give “A” grades, but I was determined I would earn one. During drawing class, he came up behind me and removed the pencil from my hand and replaced it with charcoal. I was horrified. I had to make a mark that everyone could see and judge me for. What I found was I loved it! Thank you Mr. Drummond for seeing in me something that I could not see myself and forcing me to face it. These drawings are of My sister Christine, who as you can see has exquisite legs. She came to Columbus to visit with some friends. I wanted her to pose the day after we had spent the night before partying, back then legal drinking age was 18. I needed reference materials for drawings. Unfortunately, or not she was feeling a little under the weather after our night out and couldn’t hold a pose. So I had her lay on the bed and positioned her feet on the wall. I took the shade off the light and used it to cast a dramatic shadow, and the birth of my love for dramatic lighting was born. Oh, and by the way, I did get my “A.”

Charcoal

Toledo Area Artist Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art

Charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal

Charcoal

The title comes from the fact that my sister was posing for me with my Grandmother’s chair.

Charcoal

Charcoal

2014 7th Annual NOWOH Show, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, Fine Art Center, Bowling Green State University, B. G. Ohio

Toledo Area Artists Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art

This is the first time I entered a show and I was surprised that my work had been accepted and not only that, it sold. My first sale of a work from an exhibition to Dominic Gratzano, I’ll never forget his name. This is another drawing completed from the reference photos I took when my sister was too hung over to pose. I titled it, “The Mourning After, (a little play on words) because she was most definitely in mourning over her inebriated state the night before and it was in fact the morning after our night out.

Graphite on Bristol board

This was one of, if not the first commission I did while in college too many years ago to want to acknowledge.

Charcoal and graphite

Private Collection

This drawing was an experiment using graphite and charcoal together. The building, no longer standing, was on Woodville Road in East Toledo. My father used to tell how he and his brother George would go there as young boys and sweep up and do chores in return for food, as they grew up during the depression and didn’t always have enough to eat. As he grew older, the owner of the cafe, George, taught them how to play cards. This is my Uncle George standing in front of George’s Cafe.

Commission, Private Collection

I included this to show a simple sketch called a gesture, most likely 1-2 minutes on newsprint. In a gesture, drawing an artist attempts to capture the motion and essence of the pose. I think it gives you a good idea of how I think through an image.

Another sketch, about 10 minutes, maybe 15. Again, just an idea of how I think through form and value.

Oil on board with silver leaf, 9 x 12 inches, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-419-255-8000

Oil on Belgian Linen board, 9 x 12 inches available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-800-255-8000

9 x 12 inches, oil on Belgian linen panel, 15 x 18 inches framed, $450.00 Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 419-255-8000

9 x 12 inches oil on Belgian linen panel, 15 x 18 inches framed, $450.00 Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 419-255-800

9 x 12, oil on board, 22 karat gold leaf background

SOLD

Oil on board, 15.5 x 12.5 inches framed. Available at the Toledo Museum of Atr’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 419-255-8000.

SOLD oil on panel 12 x 16 inches.

oil on hardboard, 8 x 10 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Oil on gesso board, 9 x 12, 11 x 14 inches framed, $ 495.00, available at Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 419-255-8000

Oil on hardboard 9 x 12 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

9 X 7 inches Oil on hardboard, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Oil on canvas board, 5 x 7 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

5 X 7 inches, Oil on Raymar Linen Panel, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

5 X 7 inches, Oil on Raymar linen panel, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

6 X 6 inches, oil on hardboard panel, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

5 X 7 inches, oil on Raymar linen panel, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

oil on canvas 30 X 24 inches

I took this photo as I am always taking photos. Impressed with the image knowing that the camera was hand held not on a tripod, the clarity of the image, and vivid saturation of the color, was too irresistible not to paint.

Oil on linen, Private Collection

Oil on hardboard, 9 x 12 inches, Sold

I started this series with the intention of doing 12 that would hang as one, four across and three down after a trip to the Butterfly House in Whitehouse, Ohio. Fortunately/unfortunately, I sold four pieces before I could paint all twelve, so the series ended at 4. I might add butterflies love me.

Oil on hardboard, 9 x 12 inches, SOLD

Oil on gesso board, 11 x 14 inches unframed

Oil on primed aluminum composite panel 11 x 14 inches unframed

Oil on primed Artefex aluminum composite panel 8 x 10 inches unframed

Oil on canvas board, 8 x 16 inches, available at Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, $495.00, 1-419-255-8000

8 x 16 inches, oil on gesso board Golden hour II, $495.00

Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-419-255-8000.

Oil on board, 11 x 14 inches

SOLD

6 x 9 inches unframed, Oil on board using metallic gold gesso, interference, metallic iridescence paints and crystal white made with round glass. $295.00

Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-800-255-8000.

6 x 9 inches unframed, Oil on board using metallic gold gesso, interference, metallic iridescence paints and crystal white made with round glass. $295.00 Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-800-255-8000.

6 x 9 inches unframed, Oil on board using metallic gold gesso, interference, metallic iridescence paints and crystal white made with round glass. $295.00 Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-800-255-8000.

9 x 12 oil on canvas board, 12 x 19 inches framed, $275.00. Available at Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 419-255-8000

Oil on canvas 12 x 19 inches, 17 x 23 inches framed, $550.00 Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner

419-255-8000

2o X 13.5 framed, Oil on canvas, $495.00 Available at Then Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 419-255-8000

Oil on canvas, 21 x 10.5 inches framed, $495.00, available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 419-255-8000

Oil on Linen, 8 x 10 inches, $295.00, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collectors Corner, 419-255-8000

9 x 12 oil on canvas board, 12 x 19 inches framed, $275.00, Available at Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 419-255-8000

9 x 12 inches oil on canvas board, 12 x 19 inches framed, $275.00, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 419-255-8000

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas-board 12 x 19 inches framed, $275.00 Available at Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery

419-255-8000

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas board, 12 x 19 inches framed, $275.00 Available at Toledo museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery,

419-255-8000

15 X 24 oil on canvas, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

SOLD

9 x 12 inches, oil on canvas board, 12 x 19 inches framed, $275.00 Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 419-255-8000

Oil on canvas, 17 x 21 inches, $395.00, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collectors, Corner, 419-255-8000

Oil on canvas, Sold

15 X 24 inches, oil on canvas, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

15 X 24 inches, oil on canvas, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Oil on canvas board, 8 x 10 inches $195.00, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 419-255-8000

Oil on canvas

SOLD

Oil on linen canvas panel, 21 x 17 inches, $350.00, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 419-255-8000

Private Collection

Oil on Canvas 12 x 19 inches, 17 x 23 inches framed, $550.00 Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner

419-255-8000

Oil on board, 8 x 10 inches, available at the Toledo Museum of Art, Collector’s Corner Gallery, $295.00, 1-419-255-8000

Oil on board, 11 x 14 inches, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, $495.00, 1-419-255-8000

oil on board 9 x 11 inches, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, $250.00, 1-419-255-8000

Oil on canvas board, 11 x 14 inches, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, $295.00, 1-419-255-8000

oil on board, 13.5 x 7.75, Available at Toledo Museum of Art Collector’s Corner Gallery, $295.00, 1-419-255-8000

Oil on Belgian portrait linen, 20 X 20 inches, $2500.00

Oil on canvas 9 x 12 inches, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, $350.00, 1-419-255-8000

Pastel Drawing on 100% black rag paper

23 X 17 inches

Charcoal and graphite, 14 x 17 inches

Oil on canvas over hardboard. 30 x21.5 Inches

The Zanesville Museum of Art’s 75th Ohio Annual Exhibition, Zanesville, Ohio

Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Awarded Best of Show and First Place in painting, Swanton, Ohio

This painting pays tribute to my Father’s organizational system. The painting had evolved significantly as the work progressed. Initially, I began with just a photographic representation of the image. Then, after working as the assistant to portrait artist Leslie Adams, and many, many discussions regarding work, composition, meaning, etc., I decided to take the painting in a different direction. I began to incorporate personal information into painting therefore taking on a more narrative connotation. Information that no one would understand or realize there was a deeper meaning to without explanation. The following is the description, deciphering if you will the information found in the painting.

I will begin with the top row and work my way down the shelving unit. The only change I really made to this row, other than simplifying some items was adding tubes of paint to the first from the left metal drawer. I also moved from the shelf below to the top self the paint mixing blades. The kind of paint mixer you attach to a drill to blend large pails of paint.

In the second row, in place of the paint mixing blades, I painted out that section and added children’s building blocks with his initials on them. I added his work I.D. badge hanging from the wooden slat which drops into the the top of the third shelf. Then on the styrofoam cup, I added his work nickname in his own handwriting on the cup.

The third shelf from the top is a bit more interesting. From the left, I added a pin my father received from Life Flight. The pin is enlarged approximately 50% to show the details of the piece. He and two other Sun Oil employees, and the only other gentleman’s name I can remember is Mr. Leonhardt, with the permission of the company, began a program collecting scrap metal and wire from refuse piles They’d strip the wire and turn the collected metal in at a recycle company for cash. This cash was then donated to Light Flight for gas. Life Flight was a helicopter transport service that moved patients or accident victims to area hospitals. Next to the blue Levnon box is a paint roller. Now, I used to help my Dad paint as my Mom loved to change the color of her walls and my Dad hated painting. We had a deal. He would clean all the brushes if I did the painting. I started at age twelve, had an extremely steady hand, was very neat, and never used a drip cloth. Dad then cleaned all the brushes and rollers. The funny thing about the roller is, he cleaned and reused the rollers, I never knew you just threw them away and used a new one until I moved into an apartment. This is one of his paint rollers wrapped in plastic wrap waiting to be cleaned and never was. I added one of Dad’s blood donation badges from the Red Cross, this one was for five gallons. As we move over, his work ID badge is hanging there. I modified the badge as I wanted his photo to be a bit larger, so I cropped out half of the badge and redesigned the badge while staying true to the original badge design. So, there is the portrait of him on the badge and I can’t help myself, I keep tinkering with it. I want it perfect. Next we move to the Sears shoebox. I used the street number from the house we grew up in and he died in which was 1205 Vinal Street. I added our home phone number as a style number from back in the day when a word signified the first two digits of the exchange. Our number was Oxford 1-8373. Oxford being a style of shoe, I thought it was very fitting. Then of course his actual shoe size. I added a carpenters pencil in the shoe box a nod to my Dad’s trade as a carpenter. I am extremely please with the slats of wood extending from the shoebox as they appear to actually be three dimensionally moving away from the painting.

The fourth and last shelf has few changes. I added a plug to the back extension cord, although I should have changed the position of the plug and put the entire plug in the painting. I might do so, as I can see exactly where it should go. Next to that I found the small paper bag with his writing labeling it tap shoes screws. There was an electric drill with the cord wrapped around it where the red and white safety glass box is now. Although I knew what it was, the image was unrecognizable to anyone else, so I painted that area out and replaced it with the safety glasses box. Below the hardhat I added a set of my house keys I found in his belongings as he had keys to all of his children’s homes marked clearly with their names. When I found my keys, I couldn’t resist using them in the painting.

Charcoal and graphite on watercolor paper, 21 x 26 inches

When we were children, my father would entertain us with stories about his life. One story was how he tasted peanut butter for the first time. He said he found the jar in a trash can in the alley and pulled it out to eat whatever was left in the jar. We would laugh as kids because we couldn’t imagine anyone eating from the trash. As adults, a man that grew up in Dad’s neighborhood said, if our Dad told us he ate from the trash, it was because he was hungry and didn’t have food to eat at home. The story still brings tears to my eyes, but speaks to the fortitude of this man to survive.

Pastel on Pastelmat paper

SOLD

2020 A Touch of Color Exhibition, Fuller Art House, Sylvania, Ohio

Pastel on sanded paper, 25 x 32 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

2020 A Touch of Color Exhibition, Fuller Art House, Sylvania, Ohio

One of the artist’s preferred favorites. Pastel on sanded paper, 25 x 34 inches, available at the Toledo Museum of Art 419-255-8000

Pastel on pastel mat paper 25 x 34 inches

Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery 1-800-255-8000

2020 A Touch of Color Exhibition, Fuller Art House, Sylvania, Ohio

Pastel on sanded paper, 25 x 34 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

2020 A Touch of Color Exhibition, Fuller Art House, Sylvania, Ohio

Pastel on sanded paper, 25 x 34 inches, Private Collection of Joshua and Melissa Utter

2020 A Touch of Color Exhibition, Fuller Art House, Sylvania, Ohio

Pastel on sanded paper, 25 x 34 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

SOLD

Pastel on sanded paper, 32 x 24 inches framed, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’ Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Fourth in the Tucson Sky series,

32 x 24 inches, pastel on sanded paper, Available at The Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Noelani is the Hawaiian name meaning heavenly mist

Pastel on sanded paper, 32 x 24 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Noelani is the Hawaiian name meaning heavenly mist

Pastel on sanded paper, 32 x 22 inches framed, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collectors Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Third in the Tucson Sky series.

Pastel on sanded paper 25 x 34 inches, Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-255-8000

Pastel on sanded paper, 32 x 24 inches framed, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner, 1-419-25-8000

Pastel on sanded paper 32 x 24 inches framed, available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, 1-419-25-8000

Pastel on Sanded paper 23 X 18 inches, SOLD

Pastel on sanded paper 23 X 17 inches SOLD

Pastel on sanded paper, 25 x 34 inches, SOLD, Private Collection of Joshua and Melissa Utter

pastel on sanded paper 23 X 18, available at Fuller Art House, Sylvania, Ohio

Pastel on sanded paper, SOLD

Pastel on sanded paper, 23 x 18 inches, available Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery, Toledo, Ohio, 1-419-255-8000

Pastel on sanded paper, SOLD

Pastel on sanded paper, SOLD

Pastel on sanded paper, SOLD

Pastel on sanded paper, SOLD

Sometimes the work sells so quickly I don’t have time to title it.

Pastel on sanded paper

Pastel on 100% black rag paper, 17 x 24 inches

Swanton Fie Art Exhibition, First Place

Collection of the Artist

Toledo Area Artist Exhibition, Toledo Museum of Art

Collection of the Artist

Pastel on 100% black rag paper.

The Weekly, 3-30-00: Rebecca Golden, “Debra Buchanan has two works in the show. “Red Plaid Shirt,” a pastel portrait depicting a man in a red plaid shirt. His piercing brown eyes gaze warily at the world through black-rimmed glasses. His dark hair is graying in a way people refer to as distinguished. Through the red plaid of the title shirt is perfectly rendered - indeed, the medium really lends itself to creating the texture of flannel - it seems as though this man would feel much more at home in a three-piece suit, complete with power tie. Something in his steady gaze conveys an authority belied by his attire. The portrait compels attention and is worthy of a second glance.”

Oil on Belgian linen, 48 x 36 inches, aluminum and wood stretcher bars

48 X 36 inches, oil on linen, aluminum and wood stretchers. $5,500.00, Available at Toledo Museum of Art's Collector's Corner Gallery

This painting was completed to pay homage to a college drawing/anatomy instructor Dennis Drummond who passed away. He realized potential in me that I did not see in myself. Dennis was a tough instructor who expected the best from his students, nothing less would suffice. During figure drawing class one day after watching me create ghost like drawings for most of the term, which basically only I could see, he walked behind me, removed the pencil from my hand replacing it with a stick of charcoal. I was horrified. I would be making marks that everyone could see and judge me for. Feelings of inadequacy sprang to life inside me as I stared for a moment at the charcoal in my hand wondering what I was going to do. Recognizing I had no other choice than to draw, I drew. It was a pivotal point in my development as an artist leaving me with a debt to Mr. Drummond that can never be repaid. I continue to work in charcoal today and love it.

30 x 48 inches acrylic pour on canvas and oil painting

Oil on linen,

2022 Chasing Ghosts VII, Verum Ultimum Art Gallery, Portland, Oregon

2022 Second Place Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Swanton, Ohio

There is so much to say about this painting. My significant other, Al, passed away almost two years ago. As I cleaned his house to prepare it for sale. As I lovingly and carefully packed away his belongings, I was struck with the idea to do this painting using his treasured mementos and a shadow box that belonged to him.

I’ll go shelf by shelf. On the top shelf is a bear can given to him by his brother Rick, a coffee mug made for him by my sister from a photo she took of him standing on my parent’s front porch, and yes he is flipping her off. They just had that kind of friendship. I included a figurine of St. Luke as he is the patron Saint of artists even though it did not belong to Al, he was very proud of my art. Next is a photo of his two birds Victor, a blue and gold macaw and Louie, a cherry headed conure. A toy car of his beloved corvette next to a parrot letter opener wedged behind the shelf. Behind that is the birth identification card you find with newborns in the hospital nursery and yes, he only weighed 3.15 pounds at birth. Next is Al’s favorite photo of us taken at my sister’s wedding which he displayed in his living room. The two bird figurines are gifts I had given him with his crucifix wrapped around one of them he hung in his loving room. A shot glass, because he loved his whiskey. Finally eerily enough one of his favorite paintings I completed which was hanging on my wall and reflected in the mirror of the shadowbox. What are the odds of that happening? Needless to say, I was rather surprised when I discovered the image in my reference photos. The painting is significant and has a great story to it if you read about it in this still life section.

The middle section begins with a camera I found tucked away in his kitchen cupboards. The significance being, he would never permit me to take his photograph then asked me why I never painted him. To which I responded, “I have to be able to take your photo to paint you, and you won’t let me.” Behind the camera is a photo of his corvette. In front of the camera is an assortment of trinkets I purchased for him over the years, one of his pocket knives, a small bottle of Black Velvet, his drink of choice, a diamond ring that would have been his wedding band when we married which he had been urging me to do and another trinket. In the center are two feathers from his bird and a photo of him on his Harley Davidson. On the opposite side is a clip from the antique gun and envelope I had to include as it had his hand writing on it, a Harley emblem, assortment of his pocket knives and bullets from his guns. He loved his knives and guns as much as he loved his corvette and motorcycle.

The bottom shelf begins with a few trinkets, a Tasmanian devil magnet his sister gave him and a small framed bird made from feathers I purchased for him at Berman’s. There is a desk plaque I had made for him with his name and the greatest on if as he would always ask his nephews and nieces who’s the greatest to which they would respond, “Uncle Al’s the greatest.”Resting atop that is a pedal from one of his motorcycles which broke and he tried to weld. His Red Cross blood donation card and another parrot figurine I gifted to him. Hanging from the figurine is an assortment of religious metals. St Christopher which he carried with him at all times, a St. Jude as he donated to St. Judes Children’s hospital annually, and a Santa Clause because he dressed as Santa and visited his nephews and nieces every year to hand out gifts. Next comes a bottle of Buckeye beer he had and draped over the neck of the bottle is an ID bracelet I had made for him from an Egyptian cartouche with his name spelled in hieroglyphics. And finally a cluster of crystal trinkets I gifted to him that like Humpty Dumpty, met a tragic fate when he crashed into his curio cabinet.

I love to challenge myself and this piece did just that. I loved working with the mirrored reflections. You can see that I have this piece shown as just the painting and the painting framed in the frame that housed the shadowbox. In order to create the illusion of depth I wanted, it was imperative that I use the shadow box frame. My ultimate goal was to appear as though you could reach into the painting and pick something up.

Oil on canvas over hardboard, Oil on canvas over hardboard. 30 x 21.5 inches

100 + 5 Exhibition, Toledo Federation of Art Society, The Center of Visual Arts Toledo University, Toledo, Ohio

The Zanesville Museum of Arts 75th Ohio Annual Exhibition, Zanesville, Ohio

Swanton Fine Art Exhibition, Best of Show and First Place, Swanton, Oil

Oil on canvas, adhered to aluminum composite panel 18 x 24 inches. Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collectors Corner gallery, 1-419-255-8000.

Oil on canvas adhered to aluminum composite panel 18 x 24 inches. Available at the Toledo Museum of Art’s Collector’s Corner Gallery.

oil on canvas 36 X 36 inches, SOLD

Private Collection of Jules Webster

I started this series because I was struck by the image of wine glasses filled with raspberry riesling. When unsuccessfully attempting to set up a still life to paint, I rose and stood over the still life in frustration when it struck me, “This was the image I was looking for.” Thus began the series that continues today with several works in progress.

Oil on Canvas, 36 X 36 inches

Douglas Edward Koch Memorial Award in the 35th Annual Artists Exhibit and Sale

Toledo Federation of Artists 100+3 Exhibition, Oct. 2020

The Artist Kitchen Invitational Exhibition, Hudson Gallery, Sylvania, Ohio

NOWOH Community Art Show, Bowling Green, Ohio, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, 2018

This work was titled to pay homage to Jules Webster for her continued support of my artistic endeavors. Jules was gifted the first in the series from her significant other, Tim. Jules herself began her career as a ceramic artist, then opened the Art Supply Depo’. The green and yellow plate is one of her pieces that I used in this painting along with hand blown glass candy pieces, hence the title, “Candied Jules” Titled with the help of Stephen from the Art Supply Depo. The glass candy glimmering like gems and jewels.

Oil on canvas, 40 X 30 inches, SOLD

This panting sold so fast I didn’t have the time to have it professionally photographed, which I am very sad about, because this photo does not do it justice. The concept behind this work was the three graces. Traditionally the three graces are thought of as three goddesses, Aglain, representing elegance and brightness, Thalia, representing youth and beauty, and Euphosyne ,representing joyfulness. I used tea cups number one because they very identifiable as feminine in nature and symbolic of the womb, again very feminine. I stacked them so as to appear in movement as if they were dancing. I carefully selected three different stacks of cups, the first elegant, delicate cups which in my mind represent a woman in her prime. The middle stack was a mixture of (from the bottom) an Avon cup, a purple souvenir cup with an image of Niagara Falls on the reverse side, and the top cup a hand painted souvenir from Japan my Father sent to his mother, my grandmother while serving in the Korean War. This stack representing youth and all the changes we go through on our journey to becoming a woman. The third stack represent old age. I use the cracked, broken, chipped, stained tea cups from my Grandmother, well used over the years seeing her from her newly wed days, raising a family through the Great Depression, widowhood, to her end of days and the joyfulness of a life well lived.

Oil on canvas, 24 X 60 inches

NOWOH Community Art Show, Bowling Green, Ohio, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, 2018

This was a fun piece for me pushing myself to paint more alla prima instead of glazing. I was interested in color and compliments playing off one another. I actually love this painting, it’s bright and cheerful and full of life.

Oil on Canvas 36 X 48 inches

Toledo Federation fo Artist 100+3 Exhibition, Oct. 2020

NOWOH Community Art Show, Bowling Green, Ohio, Dorothy Uber Bryan Gallery, 2018

As I worked on this painting, my boyfriend Al would come over and as he watched me work would say, “I really like this painting.” Every time he looked at it. I would secretly giggle. Al had given me this tea cup. He had purchased it in sixth grade while on a field trip to the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan as a souvenir for his Mother. While setting up still lives to photograph, I inadvertently dropped something. I can’t even remember what I dropped. It landed in the bag of tea cups I was working with. I cringed as I heard the breaking glass. I went to investigate and to my surprise found only one item broken. It was the tea cup Al had given me that he’d purchased for his mother. Once I saw the broken pieces, I knew I had to paint them. I could never bring myself to tell him where the cup came from. And, Al really liked this painting.

Oil on Hardboard, 12 x 9 inches

I love this little painting. It’s like looking at an gentle love filled embrace.

9 X 12 inches oil on hardboard

I completed these two studies in red as a precursor to a portrait I was working on. I wanted to understand how to handle the red in the dress without experimenting in the portrait. Should I use purple, gray, or blue shadows? It was a worthwhile test, as the answer was most definitely blue.

I begin with a detail drawing.

I continue the process by working up the whites

Nest step is Raw umber defining shadows.

Next I add green earth to the flesh

I begin to add color

I continue to add color and build more detail

Almost there as I continue to paint

The completed painting.

People are always asking me what I am working on, so I decided to add this page to the website, work in progress. This piece is about the duality of a person, the yin and yang, complementary (rather than opposing) forces that interact to form a dynamic system in which the whole is greater than the assembled parts. Always experimenting, I used a white with ground glass particles in it and I hate the texture of the painting, so I will most likely began a new one.

This is a portrait of my young niece, who decided to grow her hair and donate it to locks of love in honor of a fellow student at her school and her piano teacher who had gone through cancer.

Oil on Canvas

This is the granddaughter of a life long friend that grew up in the house just behind ours. I just fell in love with her little expression and asked permission to paint her. I wanted to do more than just a portrait of her and remembered seeing Pete’s Mom post a photo of herself as a young woman. I went to her Facebook page and found not only the photo I was looking for, but the other of her as a child with her siblings and father. I decided to use the photos as photos on the wall behind her. I want to enter this painting in a couple shows before I give it to Pete as a thank you for allowing me the use of his photos for reference. I have completed beautiful pastel paintings thanks to his photos. I will be adding a flower tucked behind her ear.

Oil on Belgian portrait linen

I started this painting just to show that I could paint a more traditional portrait. I am still working on the rug, pillow, paint chips,and I have to repaint the face, not that I was finished with her face, but after I picked something from the paint and lifted a big spot of flesh off her nose, I have to repaint the flesh again. I was so close. The two paintings, “Study in Red” were done as a precursor to this painting so that I knew how to handle the shadows on the red dress.

This painting will be stunning when I finish it. I am still in the monochrome phase of the painting, but can’t wait to begin painting the cloth. This is again my friend Sue. I have such a difficult time capturing her skin tone so I experimented with a new underpainting color. Instead of Green earth, I am using Bohemian Green Earth which is a much richer deeper color than green earth. We will see how it goes.

I had the idea/concept that I could paint a portrait of a person using mainly items that were important to him instead of images of him. The idea began to grow. Then I came up this the title, “Story of a Man” and the project took on a life of it’s own. As I added more paintings I realized I had to somehow modify the title. It took me a minute, but I added a chapter number to each painting along with the subtitle as you would find in a book. I have nine chapters planned including drawings and paintings, and yes, there are some portraits.

These are three of my fathers hardhats, He worked at the Sun Oil Company for 42 years. He was a union stewart represented by the union posters. The photos are of him receiving awards at work, donating blood at the blood drive, working with Life Flight. One very funny photo is him in a chair in his work coveralls flipping the bird. Now, My Dad did this in almost every photo taken of him since he was a teenager, so when I saw this photo, I had to include it. I also included a photo of me with my Dad receiving an award. Yes, there is a naked lady on the center hard hat. Its a sticker from a scaffolding erection company…how funny is that. I can’t wait to finish this.

I remember my Father using these items. It’s close then I’ll have a more professional photo taken.

This is in the beginning stages of the work before I add color. I’ve made a few changes and began adding color, but really goobered that up, now I have to think through how to fix the goober. Initially, I did this as a mixed media collage to come up with the composition, knowing that my intention was to paint it at some point. It is a very in your face kind of painting about addiction. My brother was hospitalized due to alcoholism and on a respirator for three weeks, waiting to cross the line into the hereafter. My Father had asked me to bring my camera up to the hospital to photograph him so he could show the photos to Dennis in hopes of impressing on him what drinking was doing to his body. The nurse caught me, not that I was hiding, and boldly told me I couldn’t take photos. I really wanted to tell her that I was just doing as my Father had asked me to do, I mean, how do you tell your Dad no? So later when he had been moved to a different room, I snuck my camera into his room, as I did sit with him every evening afraid that he would die alone. I perched the camera on the edge of the chairs hand rest and began snapping photos not really knowing if I was getting anything usable as I couldn’t look through the viewfinder afraid that the nurses would again scold me, plus I was using film as I didn’t have a digital camera at the time. Once I had he film developed I was surprised to find that I had captured images and used them to created the collage. I had my other brother pose holding beer bottles and found an old photo my mom had with who I believe to be my dad based on his hands with a bottle of Segram’s 7, although my mother denies it being my Dad. I took the imagery a step further by adding a syringe to the image and pills encompassing a more inclusive scope of addiction. I included a self composed poem with the original mixed media work and maybe I will post that image, even though I don’t include any of that work my website.

Mixed media photo collage transfer to handmade paper.

This is the working composition for a painting. I modified the design somewhat to meet the needs of the canvas size and encompass a wider range of addiction.

I am thinking through composition here in the beginning drawing stage of the painting. There is a shattered light bulb, or will be a shattered bulb behind her and the open mouths surrounding her represent the voices she heard and carried with her everyday as she was schizophrenic . My sister Diane passed away from cancer, I’m sure you can see from this photo how ill she was. I moved her into my home and cared for her end of life needs for several months prior to her death.