Debra Dunphy discusses her past, her inspiration and her future as an artist.
See Dunphy’s teaching skills at work in our full profile of the artist and her painting classes.
Read the Full Transcript:
Debra Dunphy, Dunphy Art Studio & Gallery: I was always interested in art, loved art, since I was four.
But, you know, you got that stereotype, you know, that crazy artist or, you know, amass – a great little, you know, vocation, but what are you going to really do?
So, I tried other things, I didn’t like it. I–you know, I lived in New Bedford, worked in the fish house, and I moved out here and I said, “This is what I want to do. I want to take this seriously.”
And I met up with this woman and she was in her seventies and she was very established artist. She had a great studio built in her yard. And I came to see her and she became my mentor, Katherine Roeder, and I said, “This is what I want.”
And, she was telling me about all her stories about teaching art, and she said, “If you want to learn how to paint, teach, that’s the best thing to do.”
So, I started doing that. So, I got a studio space at the Canal Gallery across the street. I was there for about ten years, and I’ve been here for about ten years, and I’ve been teaching, and I’ve learned a lot from teaching.
We had a lot of fun, we had a lot of connections, and we’re building a studio, my husband and I, and because he does art too, and that’s how I met him, he was an art student of mine, yeah.
And yeah, so anyways, we’re going to be building a studio and it’s going to start next week.
