South Dakota Arts Council

South Dakota Arts Council

Pierre, SD

The SDAC is a state government grantmaking agency supported by the State of South Dakota, through the Dept. of Tourism, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Message
Moonlight in the Garden by Deborah Mitchell Image: “Usually working in series, I have traveled the world to visit famous gardens. I was captivated by a summer evening in my own garden in Rapid City. Summer in the Black Hills is fleeting, so to reflect this by not articulating an exact likeness or specificity plays into how our memory of a certain light or season is like our peripheral vision. Something is there, we know it, and even though we can’t see it clearly, recognize it, we remember it. I play with color in this way: approximating a flower, a garden, a pathway.”
“Usually working in series, I have traveled the world to visit famous gardens. I was captivated by a summer evening in my own garden in Rapid City. Summer in the Black Hills is fleeting, so to reflect this by not articulating an exact likeness or specificity plays into how our memory of a certain light or season is like our peripheral vision. Something is there, we know it, and even though we can’t see it clearly, recognize it, we remember it. I play with color in this way: approximating a flower, a garden, a pathway.”
  • Deborah Mitchell
  • Moonlight in the Garden, 2019
  • Monotype chine colle print triptych
  • Framed: 23 x 56 in (58.42 x 142.24 cm)
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Growing up outside of Boston, Deborah Mitchell’s early influences were frequent trips to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and her mother’s lush gardens. A painter and naturalist, her grandmother instilled an appreciation of nature. A retired university art professor with a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking, fine weather finds her in her backyard painting and gardening, or En plein aire sketching through spectacular landscapes. Cooler seasons make her home studio a refuge for printmaking, painting, mixed media, and experimentation. Travel to New England and Europe — especially the Mediterranean — recharge her artistically and culturally.

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Too Close This Time by Donald F. Montileaux
Goldfinch and Silver Poplars by Mark W. McGinnis
Blue Birds and Buttressed Pine by Mark W. McGinnis
Ballad of the Badlands by John Lopez
Untitled (#110P) by Bob H. Miller
See all artwork from South Dakota Arts Council