Debra Mixon Holliday
Visual Arts: Printmaking
Debra is a life-long resident of Florida and grew up along the central Gulf coast of the state. As a child, she had free reign to wander her grandparents’ farm and ranch there. Those wanderings began a foundation of watching and observing the flora and fauna of the Gulf Coast and Southeast that now influence her art.
In her work, Debra heeds a deep-rooted calling to bear witness to the native environment of the region that she knows and loves. She explores nature as a boundless well of subject matter and our relationships to nature as an entry point to addressing themes on boundaries, connections, sense of place, time, memory, and identity.
To create images, she looks to the small stories and the special-ness of the creatures and the environments they rely on. Plying woods, backwaters, and even her own backyard, she raids a treasure chest of line, color, pattern, and form. A variety of printmaking techniques, including monotype, relief, collagraph, and intaglio, are employed to bring images to life. Her mixed media work is enhanced with collage and drawing in graphite and colored pencil.
Debra holds a BA in visual arts from Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida and a BA in English from the University of South Florida. She now resides in St. Augustine, Florida, where she continues with learning, exploring and pursuing her art.
