Where do you reside and work currently? I reside in the countryside just outside of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, along with my husband, 4 cats, 3 dogs, and 8 horses.
How long have you been making art and what lead you to start? I have been dabbling in artistic endeavors of different sorts all my life (originally I spent five years doing stained glass). My very first art class was in sixth Grade and I fell in love immediately. Since then art has always been a part of my life, however, it was never a daily practice until about five years ago.
Did you study art or is it inherent? I studied art in public school Art Class from sixth Grade to twelfth. Then in year 2000 I enrolled in the two year Visual Arts Program at our local college (Red Deer College). I did the two year program in four years and I loved every minute of it! Then life kind of got in the way and I didn’t do much art until 2012 when I started journaling. That was the beginning of my daily practice.
How would you describe Deb Weiers? I would describe myself as feisty, humorous, and stubborn. Also I am a big advocate for caring for Mother Earth and for all sentient beings on this planet. I live a low carbon footprint life, have been vegetarian for seventeen years, moving towards becoming vegan, my husband and I grow all our own food and dehydrate, can, store and freeze enough preserves to get us through the winter months. And I am usually pretty happy to get on my ‘soapbox’ about things that I care passionately about.
Do you remember the first piece of art that captured your imagination? Unfortunately, I don’t remember the first piece of art that captured my imagination. However, I do remember that I really loved looking at the work my sixth grade art teacher did.
Is there any reality behind the characters in your paintings or are they purely fantasy? Some of my characters are purely fantasy but most of them have life stories behind them representing struggle, sadness, hardship, loss, humor, joy, etc. I try to portray some or all of these emotions and events in my characters as I believe all of us can relate to some or all of these.
What do you dream about? I dream about publishing a book of my artwork someday.
How do you define success? I define success as my ability to get to the table and work every day, whether it be for fifteen minutes or for ten hours. And I also define success as always moving forward in my art, always pushing, experimenting, discovering, changing. I guess I define success as coming from the inside of me, not from the outside of me. But don’t get me wrong, I am thrilled to be selling my work!
Best advice you ever received in regards to your career as an artist? Work, work, work, every day, every chance I get.
What advice would you give putative collectors? First off, I had to look up ‘putative’ in the dictionary. And secondly, I have no advice as I don’t have a clue about that whole world.
How would you like to be seen as an artist years from now? Years from now I would like to be seen as a unique, hard working, and activist type of artist.
Do you have a place/person/thing that you visit for inspiration? For inspiration I visit nature on a daily basis. I am fortunate to live on some wild land where nature is in its full splendor. I go on a daily 40 minute walk and breathe it all in. I am also inspired by so many artists that I have discovered online. And of course, Pinterest.
If you could have dinner with 3 artists living/dead who would be at your table? If I could have dinner with 3 artists living or dead of course I would prefer to eat with the living but I am open to both. I would have to say Linda Vachon, Gustav Klimt, and Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
Name three things you can’t live without in your studio? My Daler-rowney fw acrylic artists anks, my Hunt ex-fine bowl pointed nib #512 and dip pen (with India Ink), and my collage items.
Anything else you’d like to mention that I didn’t ask? I am now 61 years old and hoping for another 20-30 years to create. I squeeze every spare moment out of the day to get to my table. Sometimes it is for 5 minutes while the potatoes are in the frying pan. I feel so very fortunate to be able to do what I love at this point in my life. And thank you so much for being interested in my work and myself.
you can purchase artist’s work in the BUY section.
