BRISTOL, Vt. (WCAX) – Drenched in sunshine and always southeast facing, the little desk tucked in the corner of Deborah Holmes’ home studio is what she calls “her spot.”
“Oh I love it, yeah, I just love it,” she said. “Every day. Love it.”
The perfect workspace is a crucial piece of the puzzle for this watercolor artist. It’s something she’s come to value over time. She knows a thing or two about the trade after 35 years. While she’s quite good at putting paint on paper, it took her a while to find her calling. “I don’t know, I’ve done all art. Printmaking, sculpture, oil painting, acrylic,” Holmes said.
She says it all started when she was a kid. “We weren’t allowed to have coloring books, so all kids draw,” she says, reminiscing about rules set forth by her mother. “If you have a coloring book then you’re coloring in the lines and you’re not using your imagination,” Holmes said.
She went to Vassar and studied history, but took art classes along the way. Eventually, she took to teaching art at private schools, before realizing she’d rather dip her brush in solitude. “Never really intended to become an artist because I didn’t know you could do it for a living,” she says. Holmes quickly learned she was wrong, as her first paintings made for sale sold almost immediately.
Now, her Bristol home also serves as her studio. Alongside her three, fluffy black cats, she pumps out painting after painting, all depicting Vermont’s beauty. “I think the reason I can do this is because I live here, and I just love the landscape in Vermont. I think it’s just beautiful,” she said. “There are two places in Vermont I just love. One is the Champlain Valley, and one is the Northeast Kingdom. Those are the two places in Vermont that speak to me the most.”
Whether it’s a custom commission, or a piece heading to a gallery, these paintings almost always depict places she’s been. “When I am painting a painting, I am there. Like, I’m in that spot even though I’m not, if that makes sense,” Holmes said. That, combined with her special spot and the beauty of Vermont, means Holmes creates some 300 paintings a year, and frames them herself.
“When you get in that zone, it’s like nothing else,” she said, “It’s like you’re completely, you lose all track of time.”
While she may lose track of time, these paintings of Vermont’s beauty are timeless.