By Kathy L. Collins
Debra Bryant of Plant City is a creative and highly talented artist and teacher. During the month of March, you can see some of Bryant’s work at the Bruton Memorial Library located at 302 W. McLendon St. in Plant City.
Each month, the Bruton Memorial Library dedicates its art wall to a local artist to exhibit their work.
Bryant’s exhibit is a very interesting and thoughtful one. She will show a collection of her daily paintings. According to Bryant, this is “A movement in art where artists paint each day. I will paint one each day and then post it online.”
Bryant added, “I am exhibiting 40 of my daily paintings because I want to show people who think they cannot paint anything worthwhile in limited time, with demands from family, job, church, school, etc., that they can still produce work that can either stand on its own or be a jumping off point to more in-depth and polished artwork. I have sold about 15 of these daily paintings.”
The exhibit is arranged with the daily paintings which are small (about 6″x6″) flanking the larger (16″x16″) pieces. According to Bryant, “This allows you to see where I started and also see where I ended.”
Bryant has been painting for 15 years. Her favorite subject is portraits. “I love the face. The face, any face, appeals to me,” said Bryant. When Bryant started out, she painted landscapes. “I would copy nature from National Geographic. After about a year, my sister convinced me to take a workshop with Frank Covino who paints Old Master Portraits. I was hooked,” said Bryant.
Bryant is passionate about art and believes that it is necessary for artists to exhibit their work. “The think I like is that people get to see what you do on a daily basis with this exhibit. People spend their weekends doing what I am luck enough to get to do every day,” said Bryant.
In addition to being a working artist, Bryant shares her knowledge and creativity with others. She is a long-time teacher at Center Place in Brandon. She is also the Director at the Beaux Arts Gallery in Winthrop Town Centre in Riverview.
For more information and to view Bryant’s work, please visit www.debrabryant.blogspot.com.
