Debora Ratliff

Before I retired, I was a trial lawyer. My business was telling stories, stories with a beginning, middle, and end, and an intended outcome, with the facts of someone else’s experience. Now, as a painter and mixed media artist, my stories unfold on no particular path, with no planned outcome, in the subjects, colors, shapes, textures, and layers of art, using acrylics, collage, and mark-making tools. Although I am inspired by the work of other artists and by the history, culture, colors, landscapes, and nature of New Mexico and all of the American West, my own stories and experiences are inextricably woven into the layers. My subjects range from abstract to figurative. For me, making art has become an unguided meditation, in which I add layer upon layer, paint over, add marks, make changes, and then excavate the layers to find the painting, with no plan to get there or idea of where it will end up. My stories are in the paintings; hopefully, others may find parts of their stories in them, too.

I grew up in cities. As a child, my favorite thing was visiting my great grandparents’ on the Pecos River in west Texas, beginning my love of the outdoors, open spaces, desert beauty, nature, geology, and high blue skies. After a career as a trial lawyer, I retired and followed that early love and moved to Santa Fe. Since then, I have traveled a lot of the Southwest and some of the world, pursued interests like cooking, hiking, fly fishing, and river running, and learned new skills like playing the ukulele and, most wonderfully, making art. With a longtime love of art but no experience or education in art making, I began at the beginning with a basic drawing course at Santa Fe Community College, followed by other art classes, in person and online—learning materials, skills, theory, and technique. After many years and many stops and starts, I have recently found my own path and begun making art that is all mine and that I like. I am indeed an emerging artist, having first shown my work in late 2023.

2-D, Collage/Mixed Media, Painting (all materials)