June Artist of the Month
Meet Deborah Friedman
Deborah Friedman recalls that her early years in Los Angeles were a very special and formative part of her life. “My parents signed me up for classes at age 4 at the LA County Museum – I drew Spanish dancers that were not great but were certainly not stick figures.” Early inspiration came from spending summers at her grandparent’s farm. Her family moved to Massachusetts when she was 9 and in high school, Friedman put together a portfolio to apply to University of Massachusetts Amherst Art program where she attained her BFA. She studied printmaking, lithography and woodcutting: “I wanted to learn a craft.” Her thesis, prints and drawings inspired by the work of the Pre-Raphaelites, went on to be accepted in national shows, and won the Berkshire Art Association Award and was purchased by the Berkshire Art Museum.
After college, Friedman found printmaking too costly to pursue and transitioned to detailed graphite drawings. She concentrated on portraits and still life and many of her pieces incorporated the artwork of the old masters in the background: “I did a piece with a window and outside the window was a scene by John-Francois Millet. Her work has always received much recognition and at this time she became a finalist of the MassArt Foundation. Friedman felt it was time to move on from the still life and decorative pieces she was doing and she created a children’s book using her oil paintings of pets traveling the world.
Friedman was accepted into the prestigious MacDowell Artist Colony (now called the MacDowell Residency). She married the composer and physician Dr. David Hoffman whom she met at MacDowell. They later moved to Wellesley where they raised their two sons. Bolstered by the positive reviews she received, she started her Greenhouse Series and a large black and white botanical series. After that, she was stymied by an “artist block” and started doing decorative painting: faux painting, fireplaces, floorcloths inspired by quilts but soon moved on again. Friedman credits these “blocks, the times I felt that I was going nowhere,” with pushing her to find new subjects and mediums. “As an artist you spend a lot of time alone in your studio. If you’re miserable in a place you better find something different to do.” Now married with a toddler at home she perused artist magazines and noticed intriguing work using colored pencils.
Friedman, who had always loved doodling with colored pencils, began to take this medium more seriously. She loved the transparency of the colors and became adept at layering colors to come up with interesting and vibrant hues: “I found subtle nuances that really made the artwork pop.” Getting ready for a show in Newport, RI called “H2O” she came up with idea of drawing beach stones. “I wanted to explore the stones in water and I really enjoyed drawing the meniscus line.” She entered “Amber Bowl” into a contest by Artist Magazine and won First Place in Colored Pencils. “Counterpoint in Green” was featured on the cover of International Artist. She is a signature member of the Colored Pencil Society of America and an award-winning member of the WSA. The DeWitt Pencil Company in England commissioned a drawing from her, and used her work for the cover of their one of their pencil tins. In July of 2022, Ikea will be distributing two of her stones images globally.
During the pandemic, Friedman found it was time for another change. “I took out some black paper and started doodling a never-ending loop, a mobius. I’ve been doing very large paintings.” “I don’t do traditional painting. I like to juxtapose things that might not ordinarily go together. I am very inspired by nature and color.” The artist also raises Monarch butterflies to protect this endangered species. We look forward to following her always evolving and stunningly beautiful work.
