About The Artist
Deborah Garber picked up her first piece of chalk as a young child and never let go. The lush woodlands, towering oaks and rolling hills of her native Illinois were the sparks that ignited her love of nature in all its moods and forms. Pastel is her primary medium, its portability and simplicity well suited to her love of travel. Seeking a new challenge, she has recently branched out into oil painting, and alternates between the two mediums.
After graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design where she studied printmaking and illustration, Garber sought experience in life and art in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. For five years she lived out of a suitcase, toting a Spartan assortment of pastels. She stayed in city or village just long enough to absorb the spirit of place through the local language, customs and landscape, supporting herself through political cartooning, courtroom illustration, window design and translation.
Upon her return to the United States, Garber continued to build an extensive body of work and an artistic reputation through competitions, exhibitions and gallery representation. Her pastels, oils and prints are included in the collections of numerous private individuals, museums and corporations.
About The Work
Garber's unique vision is realized through rich layers of color and closely observed but somewhat abstracted form, characteristics that apply equally to her intimate depictions of flowers and her monumental landscapes. She creates a world that is at once familiar, personal and refreshingly non-traditional. This is the quality that makes Garber's work so engaging to the viewer, who then becomes an explorer in her world. This exploration feeds both the mind and the eye.
Garber spends a great deal of time outside, looking at plants and flowers and absorbing impressions of the land so that her work, despite its flirtation with abstraction, has a sense of veracity. In her own words, "Though I am constantly observing the landscape around me, all my work is created in the studio away from nature's direct influence. That way I can be more creative in my approach to shapes, composition, and especially color. My aim is to take the viewer to a completely different place than that depicted in traditional florals and landscapes. I invite the viewer to step in for a glimpse of the world that is in my mind's eye, a place of drama, mystery and harmony."
Education
Sorbonne University, Paris
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Rhode Island School of Design
University of Michigan
Selected Exhibitions
2023
“The deYoung Open 2023”, The de Young Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA “IceHouse Open”, IceHouse Gallery, Petaluma, CA
2022
“Still Life”, Sebastopol, CA Center for the Arts - Merit Award
2021
Group show, Petaluma Arts Center, Petaluma, CA
2020
Group show, Petaluma Arts Center, Petaluma, CA
2016
"Mostly Monochrome", IceHouse Gallery, Petaluma, CA
2014
One-person show, "The World Up Close", Sebastopol, CA Center for the Arts
One-person show, Santa Rosa, CA City Hall
One-person show, The Tea Room, Petaluma, CA
"Sensations", Dennis Rae Fine Art, St. Helena, CA
"Landscape at the IceHouse", IceHouse Gallery, Petaluma, CA
2013
"Up, Up and Away", Sebastopol Center for the Arts
One-person show, Station 1, Woodside, CA
One-person show, Paradise Ridge Winery, Santa Rosa, CA
"Flower Power", Sebastopol Center for the Arts
"Small Works", Graton Gallery, Graton, CA
2012
One-person show, Napa Public Library, Napa, CA
2011
One-person show, Rohnert Park Cultural Center, Rohnert Park, CA
One-person show, The Tea Room, Petaluma, CA
2010
"New Beginnings", Gallery One, Petaluma, CA
"Love of the Land", Saralee's Vineyard, Windsor, CA
2009
One-person show, The Living Gallery, Ashland, OR
One-person show, The River House, Petaluma, CA
One-person show, Marin County Public Library, Fairfax, CA
"Let's Go Green", Gallery One, Petaluma, CA
Sonoma County ARTrails
Riverfront Art Gallery, Petaluma, CA
Marin Art Festival, San Rafael, CA
2008
"Small Works", Arts Council of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CA
"RISD's One Night Stand", Mina Dresden Gallery, San Francisco
Marin Art Festival, San Rafael, CA
Sonoma County ARTrails
"Seventh Annual Members' Show", Petaluma Arts Council, Petaluma, CA
One-person show, Petaluma Valley Hospital, Petaluma, CA
Members' Show, Arts Council of Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, CA
"January Thaw", Gallery One, Petaluma, CA
2007
"The Spirit of Color", Petaluma Arts Council, Aqus Cafe, Petaluma, CA
"Sixth Annual Members' Show", Petaluma Arts Council
Two-person show, Healing Arts Center, Sebastopol, CA
"Landscape" group show, Petaluma Valley Hospital
2006
"Paranormal Paramours", Boomerang Gallery, Petaluma, CA
"Fifth Annual Members' Show", Petaluma Arts Council
2005
One-person show – "Landscapes – Real and Imagined", The Living Gallery, Ashland, OR
"Landscapes, Seascapes, Moonscapes, Escapes", Petaluma Valley Hospital
"Magic on Masks", The Hospice Mask Project, Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa, CA
"Cruisin' the Boulevard" – downtown sculpture exhibit; Petaluma, CA
2004
"Under the Golden Sun", The Vacaville (CA) Museum
One-person show, National Bank of the Redwoods, Santa Rosa, CA
"Healing Works", Petaluma Valley Hospital
Sonoma County ARTrails
Group show, The Living Gallery, Ashland, OR
"Petaluma - An Artist's View", Petaluma Museum
"Anticipating Spring", Gallery One, Petaluma
2003
One-person show, Mill Valley City Hall, Mill Valley, CA
"Almost White", Gallery One, Petaluma, CA
2002
Marin Art Festival, San Rafael, CA
"Summer 2002 - New Work", The Gallery, Burlingame, CA
Sonoma County ARTrails
2001
Sonoma County ARTrails satellite exhibitions - SoFo2Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA; Mahoney Library, Santa Rosa Junior College Petaluma Campus; Sebastopol (CA) Center for the Arts
One-person show, Thos. Moser Gallery, San Francisco, CA
One-person show, Santa Rosa City Council Chambers, Santa Rosa, CA
"Paper and Pastel", Circle Gallery, Petaluma, CA
"Moved by the Land", Finley Community Center, Santa Rosa, CA
"The Blues", SoFo2 Gallery, Santa Rosa, CA
"Day of the Dead", Petaluma Arts Council, Petaluma, CA
"9-11 Exhibit", Cultural Arts Council of Sonoma County, Petaluma
"First (Not the Last) Members Show", Petaluma Arts Council
2000
"Art for Land", The Bay Model, Sausalito, CA
"Local Landscapes", Marin County Civic Center, San Rafael, CA
"Bouquet for the Artists", Gallery One, Petaluma, CA
"Reality Re-imagined", Sebastopol Library, Sebastopol, CA
1998
One-person show, The Commonwealth Club, San Francisco, CA
1995
One-person show, The Apple Box, Petaluma, CA
California Small Works", The California Museum of Art, Santa Rosa, CA
1994
One-person show, The Apple Box, Petaluma, CA
1988
One-person show, Allport Gallery, San Francisco
"Summer Selections", Allport Gallery
"Paper in Particular", Columbia College, Columbia, MO
Hudson Valley '88 National Juried Competition, Poughkeepsie, NY
1987
"Pastel Paintings", Dubins Gallery, Los Angeles
Group Show, Van Straaten Gallery, Chicago
"Connecticut Landscapes", Sharon Creative Arts Foundation Gallery, Sharon, CT; First Honorable Mention
39th North American Print Exhibition, The Danforth Museum, Framingham, MA; Rising Paper
Award
"Small Impressions '87", Printmaking Council of New Jersey Gallery; Zimmerli Museum, Rutgers University; Montclair Art Museum; Purchase Award
"A Sense of Place", Silvermine Guild Galleries, New Canaan, CT
1986
One-person show, Allport Gallery, San Francisco
"Looking at Earth", National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Honorable Mention
"Watercolors and Pastels", Dubins Gallery, Los Angeles
Print Show, Van Straaten Gallery, Chicago
Print Show, The Museum of Modern Art, Wakayama, Japan
"Summer Selections", Allport Gallery, San Francisco
"Pacific Coastline Drawing Exhibition", Salem Art Association, Salem, OR
University of Oregon Museum of Art Drawing Exhibition, traveling exhibition through 1988
"Paper in Particular", Columbia College, Columbia, MO
"Two Weeks in July", two-person show, Mendocino (CA) Art Center
Marin Agricultural Land Trust juried competition, Marin County Civic Center, Special Merit Award
Amnesty International Invitational Exhibition, Elaine Horwitch Gallery, Santa Fe
1985
One-person show, Bank of America World Headquarters, San Francisco
One-person show, Manville Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno
Butler Institute of American Art National Midyear Show, Youngstown, OH
"Works on Paper", Getler/Pall/Saper Gallery, New York
"New American Talent", Laguna Gloria Art Museum, Austin, TX
Summer Group Show, Van Straaten Gallery, Chicago
San Francisco Arts Commission Arts Festival, San Francisco Art Institute
"Magnolia Press Printmakers", University of Nevada at Las Vegas
Gallery Sanchez Invitational, San Francisco
Kansas Pastel Society Annual Exhibition, Wichita (KS) Art Association, Grumbacher Award
1984
One-person show, Allport Gallery, San Francisco
One-person show, Union League Club, Chicago
Two-person show, Gallery 30, San Mateo
Two-person show, Pacific Grove (CA) Art Center
"New Terrain", Lawson Gallery, San Francisco
"Made in America", Harcourts Contemporary, San Francisco
"Visions of 1984", University Center Gallery, University of California at Santa Barbara
Triton Museum of Art Competitive Drawing Exhibition, Santa Clara, CA; Second Prize
Selected Collections
AT&T Company, Chicago
Alumax Incorporated, San Mateo
Bank of America, San Francisco
Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, San Francisco
Citicorp, Chicago
County of Marin, Marin City
FMC Corporation, Chicago
HBO Corporation, New York
IBM Corporation, San Francisco
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, San Francisco
Korbel Winery
Marriott Corporation, Boston
Phelan, Pope & Johns, Chicago
Prudential Life Insurance, Co., New York
Quaker Oat Company, Chicago
Rhode Island School of Design Print Department, Providence
Russell Reynolds Associates, Inc., Los Angeles
Salomon Brothers, New York and Los Angeles
Tabor Center, Denver
3-M Corporation, Minneapolis
U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C.
University of California, Berkeley
Wells Fargo Investment, San Francisco