My Journey
My Story
Watercolor Artist | Arizona & Colorado
Watercolor stories for the soul.
Bringing stories to life through watercolor elegance and the art of observation.
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Deborah Rees paints joy into still moments. Raised in a creative household in Downers Grove, Illinois, she grew up crafting with her mother and sketching through school art classes. Though she pursued a career as a CPA, art remained a quiet companion until retirement gave her full permission to create again.
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Today, Deborah’s studio hums with music and color. She begins most pieces with energetic linework in acrylic paint pens before building transparent layers of watercolor—embracing the unexpected with drips, salt, and bleeding pigment. Her florals emerged from abstraction and found a deep connection with viewers. Their forms are both grounded and dreamlike, shaped by personal memories, nature’s rhythms, and a desire to uplift.
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A dandelion turning into birds—tattooed on her calf—reminds her of her sons’ independence and the beauty of release. Her work, too, is rooted in meaning and movement.
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Deborah exhibits regularly in Colorado and Arizona and hopes to bring her work to galleries in the coming years. When she’s not painting, she enjoys tennis, knitting, reading, and photography—each a reflection of her love for rhythm, color, and quiet discovery.
