Deanna Schuerbeke

AQ is our series of hardcover catalogs celebrating extraordinary women artists. Available on Amazon. Visit the AQ Catalog Webpage to learn more.

Deanna Schuerbeke is featured in AQ Volume V. A self-taught artist, Deanna paints emotive landscapes drawn from places and perceptions along her personal journey from the Canadian prairies through points east on the continent to Portland, Oregon, where she now lives and works.
Her paintings are often inspired by specific images from nature, but they are not meant to directly represent them or to be recognizable as being from one physical place or another. Instead, she seeks to pull forth the emotional essence of being there and bearing witness to the drama of waves crashing against Oregon sea cliffs or storm clouds lurking over Manitoba plains or dying leaves floating toward Appalachian soil. The paintings guide themselves in their creation, drawing from the profound connections between emotion and nature. They taught her to accept imperfections, lean into vulnerability, and find joy in surprises.

Her work has been exhibited in multiple art shows throughout the Portland area and has found its way into collectors' homes across the country.

After years of juggling vocation and avocation, Deanna has recently left the corporate world to focus on her art full-time. As a wonderful start to this new life, she has been accepted to attend an Art Residency in France and has plans to pursue a formal art education.
Deanna works among an array of amazing artists at NW Marine Artworks in Portland, a World War II-era ironworks building converted to a creative space of over 80 studios.


https://www.deannaschuerbeke.com/

What inspired you to become an artist, and how did you decide to commit to this path?

From a very young age, I had a deep sense that I would be an artist, and I was fortunate to have creative parents who encouraged me. We lived in a rural small town without access to art classes or museums, but we spent a lot of time “making things” at home, especially in winter months when minus forty wind chills kept us inside. My mother eventually found her creative calling forming clay into exquisite angels, and I would find mine in broad strokes of paint across canvas. Even though my life steered me into a full-time job in the corporate world, I remained committed to my practice and for many years I kept my soul happy by dedicating one evening and a weekend day to creating my art.


Could you share the story or concept behind your recent work?

My paintings are visual metaphors for emotional states. My abstracted landscapes do not depict recognizable places but instead invite viewers to interpret colors and shapes through their own lenses, allowing them to project their own feelings, memories, and interpretations. I am fascinated by dualities and contrasts in nature and life: dark/light, opacity/transparency, spaciousness/confinement, chaos/calm. I use color, composition, line, and texture to trigger a connection and an emotional response, tapping into a deep inner association to an emotion or a memory.

My process always begins with chaos, which allows me to easily slip into a flow state with the painting. I start by laying down color and various gestural marks, followed by adding and removing more layers of paint, more marks, and sometimes collage elements, all as a way to coax an image to emerge. Throughout the painting, I marry left and right brain, balancing intuition and design principles.


What was the most challenging part of your path so far? How are you navigating this obstacle?

My original challenge was trying to balance creative work with a full-time job and raising a family. But now that I am a full-time artist, an even more frightening challenge has surfaced. I am now fighting what Steven Pressfield calls, “the resistance.” This shows up as procrastination, and worse, self-defeatism. It’s a negative force that tells me that I am not good enough... that I don’t have a unique voice... that it’s too late... on and on. I am learning to shut off my conscious mind and let my intuition and my muse take over. What is working for me is creating ritual, habit, and the discipline of pushing through and getting the work done.


What role does experimentation and exploration play in your artistic practice?

My entire practice is based on experimentation and exploration! This is how I evolve as an artist. I love to vary the application of paint, employ new methods of mark-making, try different colors, venture into new mediums and onto new surfaces, take risks, and follow uncertain paths. My biggest joy is uncovering unexpected results and the surprise elements created by experimenting with marks, shapes, and colors. For me, painting is a visceral and intuitive exercise, one in which images give way to what wants to be revealed, and often this demands a divergence from the worn trail into uncertain thickets.


Do you have any start or stop rituals before creating?

I do have a very special (and maybe a little woo-woo) way that I start all my studio sessions. I invite my mother, who has since passed, to join me and to bring along a muse. Although not religious, my mother was deeply spiritual with her sculpted angels embodying her faith in the continuity of life beyond death. Before she died, she promised me that she would always make her presence known by sharing feathers with me. My practice begins with lighting a candle that I have placed in a candle holder that is decorated with a feather and an angel. I also have a large collection of found feathers in my studio. It is comforting to think she is there with me as I paint.


What message do you hope your art conveys to the world?

I do believe art allows for deep connection, which is desperately needed in our deeply fractured world. I hope that my art helps provide a connection within and among those who view it, providing a sense of shared humanity across boundaries. Rick Rubin said, “Art creates a profound connection between the artist and the audience. Through that connection, both can heal.” This is such a wonderful message of hope.


Share a mantra or favorite quote that keeps you going.

I have this quote by Georgia O’Keeffe hanging in my studio, “To create one’s world in any of the arts takes courage.” This reminds me to show up every day and don’t be afraid to let my authentic self shine through.