About

Deborah’s love of nature, through observation and academic study has a strong influence on her painting. She finds enjoyment, interest, and beauty in her surroundings.  In the more traditional pieces, atmospheric conditions and varied brush strokes are used to express the subject matter. She often prefers to emphasize the simple elegance of a single tree or a forgotten barn.  Her work captures the light and mood of the soft meadows or misty ocean for a particular day, turning her canvas into a diary. 

Using acrylics as her medium, she enjoys plein air painting as well as studio work. She is past president of Avon Arts Association and past vice president of the Connecticut Plein Air Painters Society. She is a founding member of Simsbury Open Studios. She was also co-founder of the Farmington Valley's City and Country Canvases event.  She has held leadership positions in many local art groups and has done much to promote the arts in her community and beyond. She teaches at the Farmington Valley Arts Center and she continues to teach art at the Simsbury community center as she has for eighteen years.

Her work has won awards and appeared in numerous juried shows. She is dedicated to preserving the Connecticut farmland and watershed areas that are the subjects of so many of her paintings. Working with various like minded groups, she donates her art work and service to protect and educate. 

Deborah's abstract work is more about chance and intent. She starts with large areas of color and space that get broken down,as she looks to see what forms appear.  She refers to it as “in your face art”, because, when viewed up close, these pieces present a totally different vision. Relationships vie for focus and new interactions take place. Synchronicity works its magic and the painting starts its journey.

Artist's Statement:

 I create for me.  My work is all about my reaction to what I see and feel.  It expresses what's of interest to me. I enjoy responding to the world around me with paint and canvas. The colors as well content and composition are born of my immediate dialog and perception.
I am delighted if the viewer enjoys what they see. If a feeling, or momentary sense of "transfixedness" occurs, all the better.  We've made a connection! And that is the very best outcome that I could hope for a piece. It's taken a while to truly become my mantra, but the saying, "Court not the critic's smile, nor dread his frown" is the way I paint or write.
So I offer my colorful musings, a glimpse of how I interact with the world, and possibly they will strike a chord with you, but I paint for me. 
Deborah Leonard

Awards

Her work has appeared in numerous juried shows and is part of the permanent collection at the Simsbury Library, The East Granby Library, The River View Banquet Facility and UCONN Medical Center. Debbie’s work is in many private collections in the U.S. and Europe. 
It is for sale at Arts Unique, Farmington Valley Art Center, Thomas Mach Interiors, Bill Selig's and her home studio by appointment. 

Deborah Leonard is an impressionistic and abstract painter that lives in West Simsbury Connecticut.  She is an active member of the Avon Art Association, CT Plein Air Painters Society, Simsbury Open Studios, Simsbury Land Trust and a BOD of the Farmington River Watershed Association.

Classes

She teaches art classes for adults and children and does much to promote the arts in her community. She also serves  on the board of the Farmington River Watershed Association and the Farmington Valley Visitors Association. She has designed jewelry to benefit the Farmington River Watershed Association, The Flower Bridge, and The Simsbury Landtrust that is for sale at Bill Selig Jewelers in Simsbury. 

You can find her on Facebook- Deborah Leonard Art.