Featured Artist 2023 – Debo Groover, Debortina Studio
Debo Groover, Debortina Studio
Tallahassee, FL
Mixed Media
www.debortinastudio.com
Debortina Studio Instagram
“I was raised in Savannah, Georgia and have lived mostly in the South. I received an MFA from the University of Georgia in ceramics and have spent half of my art years as a potter. Although I am formally trained in ceramics, I am totally self-taught in polymer clay. In both a fortuitous and naive exploration of this new material, I applied every technique I had learned in ceramics and subsequently broke every rule in polymer clay. This resulted in a brand new technique of using colorful and patterned sheets of clay like fabric collage. The clay itself is paper thin and tactile. When you look at each painting, the subject matter is clay. The background is textured acrylic paint. I try to use the paint in such a way that the viewer has to closely engage with the work in order to distinguish between the materials.”
My work is made in a place of happiness. This has always been my most accurate truth. The inspiration is very simple. I use animals to tell the stories of both ordinary and special human events from Sunday dinner to Mardi Gras and everything in between. Sometimes, a bird is more than a bird.”
Debo is not able to join us in person November 4 & 5. Instead, MRF is planning a special exhibition at the Festival of several of her polymer clay paintings to accompany additional Nature Enclave features that will be a part of MRF’s 2023 programming. All works in the exhibition will be for sale.
Read Debo Groover’s Featured Artist announcement blog post.
PAST MOSS ROCK FESTIVAL FEATURED ARTISTS:
BLOG ANNOUNCEMENTS + FEATURED ARTIST PAGES
Susan Shoemaker 2013 + Featured Artist Page
Darrell Ezekiel 2014 + Featured Artist Page
Chiharu Roach 2015 + Featured Artist Page
Paul Cordes Wilm 2016 + Featured Artist Page
Tracie Noles-Ross 2017 + Featured Artist Page
Deborah Davis 2018 + Featured Artist Page
Sarah Conklin 2019 + Featured Artist Page
Kimberly Paige 2020 Moss Magic + Featured Artist Page
Yvonne Miller & Stefan Hochhuber 2021 + Featured Artist Page
Jane Marshall 2022 + Featured Artist Page
