Artist: Deborah Slocum of The Painter’s Perch

Deborah Slocum is a graduate of Shippensburg University and a member of the Foundry Art Market. Her work ranges from fine art pieces in acrylics, watercolor, inks and mixed media to functional artwork like charcuterie boards, tumblers, mugs, trinket dishes and display trays. In addition to working as an artist, she also teaches art classes at the Chambersburg Council for the Arts and is their Programs Coordinator.

The focus of this show, like most art, came about in response to my own personal growth as both an artist and a human. I have been working in mixed media for a number of years, but recently began exploring ways to incorporate more textures into my artwork. Using acrylic crackle mediums, modeling paste, resin, cheesecloth, crushed glass and metal leaf to name a few. In addition to the media themselves, I’ve also been going through a change personally which has both influenced and steered my work in new ways. Many of the pieces in this show have started with my written words on the panels first… how I’m feeling as I process and grow through this time. The words are buried under the layers of paint, resin and texture. It’s my way of processing my feelings without having to express them publicly to everyone. The texture also speaks to how I believe as we break and change, we can put ourselves back together, oftentimes stronger and more beautiful than our original state. Much like the Japanese practice of Kintsugi where broken pottery is repaired with gold enamel, you’ll see lots of cracks and textures in these pieces sometimes revealing the more distressed layers underneath and other times highlighted with gold paint making the imperfections more beautiful. Such is life.