Deborah Stenberg-Service

Rubber Soul Series:

 Some of my most vivid memories from childhood are the shapes and colors of things and the way they could occupy my imagination for hours: how hills in the passing landscape were the buried bodies of giants, clouds were wizards and stucco was full of faces.

 What's more, I have always been strongly attracted to tools and equipment; the things of work and play. I work out at an old ship yard and drive by these worn bits and pieces of the stuff of work from the WWII era.  I find myself constantly reminded of an industrious history while at the same time aware of the decay around me.  I am torn between my understanding of the pride of workmanship and the awareness of its potential and often eventual toxicity. But this stuff is here and I am compelled to look at it, to explore it.

 I like the solidness of these objects and the challenge of presenting them from a feminine perspective. I want to once again explore how shape, color and light can spark the imagination; how old abandoned tires can become waterfalls and landscapes and the ordinary can become inspiring.  I am not so much interested in abstracting the shapes as I am in finding new territory within the shapes. 

 This series of small and medium sized oil paintings are done on either birch or Masonite wood panels.