Deborah Schindler had an active imagination as a child and always loved to draw. She grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950s and ‘60s and began studying at UCLA in 1968, majoring in Pictorial Art and minoring in Latin American Studies. She was fortunate, before graduating in 1972, to be able to work with William Brice and Richard Diebenkorn. In 1973 she started the MFA program at the Ohio State University, studying under Sidney Chafetz and Charles Massey and graduating in 1975.

In 1978 Deborah moved to the Washington, D.C., area and quickly integrated herself into the local art scene by joining the Washington Women’s Arts Center and subsequently, the Washington Printmakers Gallery of which she was a charter member.

Deborah participated in many juried, group and individual exhibitions through the years and taught art for 11 years with Montgomery County Public Schools. She is currently using the language skills she first acquired as a Latin American Studies minor at UCLA, working with Portuguese-speaking immigrant populations as a medical, community and legal interpreter.

Artist’s Statement
I love the immediacy and spontaneity of drawing and the challenges, discipline, physicality and surprises of printmaking. Although in the past I have worked extensively in etching and lithography, my current media of choice are drawing and linoleum cuts. The imagery I produce ranges from representational to non-objective, but it always incorporates bold contrasts and complex patterns using the five universal shapes: circle, square, spiral, cross and triangle. My sources for ideas come from personal experience, nature, art, architecture, dance and literature.

I love folklore and all types of stories. Humans have created stories since the beginning of civilization to help them understand themselves, others, their place in the natural world and their emotions.

I am intrigued by birds and flight, both in the literal and symbolic senses. I have always loved dance and find a strong link between dancers and birds; they both create kinetic forms in space and express lightness and freedom as they seemingly defy the constraints of gravity.

I have a head full of ideas, a file cabinet full of clippings and a pile of sketchbooks full of drawings. I love making visual commentaries about the things I feel, experience, perceive and care about and I believe that, through art, I am able to share my perspective of the world with others.