Debbie Brannen

Debbie Brannen is an artist living and working on Exmoor, experimenting with a variety of mediums. Much of her work is inspired by the area in which she lives. She first began working with monotone pointillism, the art of creating pictures from a series of dots, depicting local scenes, working in a small scale no larger than a postcard. Over the years she began to experiment with acrylics, capturing flowers that she grew in her garden onto canvas. It was suggested to her, by the late famous artist Mick Cawston that she should try oils. And so, under his guidance she began painting dog portraits for people living on and visiting Exmoor. From there, this led to her showcasing her work in various venues, including the Crufts Dogs Show at the NEC in Birmingham. More recently, after having become confident in using colour in her work, she went back to her monotone pointillism and started to add a watercolour wash before the dots. Originally this was done as an experiment, however after having completed this first piece, she continues to work in this medium. She now works in a much larger scale producing original works up to A3 size. These pictures are of local scenes and animals native to Exmoor. Another technique Debbie uses for the pointillism is coloured pens, placing different coloured dots to "trick the eye" into seeing the desired colour. Debbie not only creates pictures through art but has also used the craft of quilling, which is a technique used to curl paper into various shapes and forms. In the 18th century, quilling became popular in Europe where gentle ladies of quality ("ladies of leisure") practiced the craft. Taking this vintage form of craft to a higher level, Debbie has developed this technique and evolved into using card, instead of paper. Therefore producing much larger artworks and less fragile 3D objects, such as Christmas decorations and tea light holders. Debbie is currently working on a new technique called "Canvas Sculpture" which allows her to combine her craft and her art into one sculptured art form. Her first series will be the "Energy Series". Her gallery page showcases a selection of her work that she has created over many years. Some of this work is available to buy as originals or prints and in due course she hopes to introduce greeting cards. Lynton, Devon