Artist Bio
Debra Buchanan is a contemporary artist working in a variety mediums. She was born, raised, and is currently residing in Toledo, Ohio. Debra was awarded a scholarship to Columbus College of Art and Design where she received her formal training earning a BFA, studied in Europe for a summer, and went on to earn a Master’s in Education at Bowling Green State University. While there, she was fortunate enough to study painting with world renown artist Patrick Betaudier, founder of the Atelier Neo-Medici in France. Her work under the guidance of Patrick became the catalyst for her style of painting today, unifying a painting with a veil of luminescent light refracted through layers of transparent colors.
Buchanan has earned an abundance of distinctions and awards nationally, regionally and locally. Debra is a member of the Portrait Society of America, Allied Artists of America, and represented by The Toledo Museum of Art’s, Collector’s Corner Gallery in Toledo, Ohio. Her design concepts, in collaboration with glass mosaic artist Gail Christofferson, are featured nationwide in numerous hospitals, buildings and corporate collections including Facebook Data Centers.
Debra’s most recent work focuses on a narrative approach, the spark of inspiration stemming from work as assistant to national recognized portrait artist Leslie Adams. Each painting or drawing in the series eluding to a story beyond the imagery. Her series, “Story of a Man,” features paintings and drawings which combine to represent a visual history of a man’s life using as few traditional portraits as possible, instead, focusing attention on items reflecting life events and circumstances important and relevant to the man, her Father’s life story. Each piece of work in the series is assigned a chapter number and a subtitle for the chapter, thus telling the story of the man.
