ARTIST'S STATEMENT It's the living thing that facinates me. A photograph may capture a single moment, but my paintings try to capture the a span of moments, a single breath, for example, in one frame. Although I consider myself a painter first, a photographer second, and a writer third; my interest in these mediums lies in their union -- the way they overlap and crash visually into each other. There's nothing more mysterious to me than life itself, and I want my paintings to "live" -- to be moving between opposing polarities. A portrait should not be just a picture of a person -- it should be someone -- in it's own right. Photography is a huge interest to me and I'm moving more toward it recently, for it allows the perfect contrast between a living being and a picture of a living being, and pictures can stand for many things. So overlapping photography onto painted portraiture opens up many exciting possibilites: memory, inhabitation, inheritance, and transcendental awareness, to name but a few. As a painter and photographer I am self-taught and have had no “formal” fine arts training; however, I was hugely influenced by graduates of James Surls’ “Lawndale University,” which was part of the University of Houston's Fine Art program in the 80s. Direct artistic influences include Wes Hicks, Steve Wellman, Frank Martin, and James Bettison. Originally an oil painter, I moved into encaustic (beeswax) in 1999 and now, in 2007, I'm moving into acrylic, although using it in the same technique as I used with the encaustic process. I will never give up the encaustic method, for the results that can be achieved are truly amazing, especially in portraiture. Likewise, I will continue to work in photography, and should resources become available to me, I'm interested in filmmaking and printmaking as well. I thank you for your interest in my work. Deborah Moore NYC, 2007