Deborah Swan-McDonald

Cactus Festival II

In my childhood I would spend hours drawing. In high school I began to experiment various with art mediums. I continued to concentrate in art and received a Bachelors of Science in Art Education from Southern Illinois University. At that time I realized that I wanted to concentrate on watercolor painting and teaching.

Watercolor is very exciting and unpredictable. I love the way the medium helps me to portray the feelings that I had when I saw the subject. I have studied and taken workshops with a number of well known master painters. Some of these are Jake Lee, Hal Reed, Zoltan Szabo, Charles Reid, Barbara Nechis and Irving Shapiro. These amazing teachers have helped me to become skilled and find my own path in my art career. I like to paint numerous subjects, but I particularly enjoy painting an impression or an essence of my chosen theme. I also love to teach watercolor and I have taught several semesters of watercolor at Otis College of Art and Design.

List of Accomplishments:

Juried Member of Watercolor West
Limited edition prints from my paintings produced and distributed by Pulisher, Soicher Marin
Prints displayed at Hilton Head and Art Expo World in London
Paintings and prints auctioned for the California Institute for Cancer Research
Paintings displayed in the Charlie Chaplin and Cecil B. Demille Design House
Painting selected for publication in the February 2005 issue of Watercolor Magic
Special Honors Award in the Valley Watercolor Society Show 2007
Chosen to display paintings at Descanso Gardens 2005 - 2008
Watercolor instructor at Otis College of Art and Design extention program - 2004 to 2008