For over forty years, paintings by American artist Deborah Rush have been collected internationally. Her artwork is represented in 22 different countries worldwide. Deborah’s favourite techniques are oil, drawings and acrylics. She has also created fascinating porcelain statues of Arabian horses called One-of-a-Kind, as well as bronzes. Deborah’s style of painting is mostly realism, and she has a wide creative repertoire regarding her art.
What sets her works apart from others is not least the fact that she depicts also flaws of the portrayed horses and does not necessarily create a ‘perfect’ dream horse. Deborah loves to underline the beauty of the Arabian horse through fantastic settings and backgrounds. Some of her artworks are also available as limited-edition prints.
Deborah was born in western New York as a gifted child. She already drew legible figures at eighteen months of age and began sculpting in clay at two-and-a-half years. “The school told my mother twice, which was unheard of back then, that they wanted to put me from first grade to third,” Deborah remembers. “‘But the answer was a ‘no’. Life was not easy during my childhood and teenage years. My solace was in being near-daily, immersed in the local native, semi-wild landscape, along with attending to my mother’s horses from age seven. Although I daily moved close behind and in front of her large, mixed breed riding horses, I was never hurt doing my chores. Meanwhile, I drew and played in clay constantly. I made a secret pact with myself: from nine years on, to see how long could I go, drawing daily without a break? At the age of fifteen, taking stock, there were four days missed. I focused mostly on horses as my favourite subject from nine years on.
“I was drawing other breeds of horses since very early childhood. But when I saw a half Arabian mare, she instantly captivated me. Her huge, dark eyes spoke depth of soul I had not encountered among other local horses. A few years later, around 1977, my mother had old Arabian horse magazines on her table. They were like finding pearls, a treasure!” Deborah was inspired to use Arabians from that point on as the basis for a large part of her creative endeavours.
Deborah married early at seventeen and had three children. “Naturally we gravitated to rustic farm life, including my first Arabians,” Deborah relates. “My husband, James, died in 1992. Our oldest son tragically also passed away in 2004. Even past all the losses, all the years, I’m still freshly inspired! The horses’ beauty is a compelling, timeless, perfect vehicle for artistic expression in many ways. From classical realism to the imaginative abstract, impressionistic, literal, and illustrative style works, which I do not do. I use no photocopier, no projector, which I respectfully understand that many – including some of the world’s top, successful artists, create with and depend on. I love the energy in impressionistic works, the vibrant free flow that tries to match the energy that is ‘horse’! In all my endeavours, the challenge is – will it convey ‘life’ and a depth that carries the spirit of the subject? Will it be a true work of art? Does it create an inner dialogue in the viewer that speaks back to make a work ‘special’? Also mysterious, affirming, gladdening is what I try to convey in my art. This is my gift to the world.”
Asked about her techniques, Deborah points out: “Currently I both paint in nontoxic oils and draw in pencil. Occasionally, as with a past 7.5m x 2.5m mural, I also use acrylics. In the past I sculpted in porcelain clay, the One-of-a-Kind originals from 1980 to 2009. My style is either classical realism or in bold, colourful more impressionistic works.”
Deborah finds her inspiration also by periodically contemplating the Masters, such as Rembrandt, Delacroix, Bonheur, Stubbs, Herring, De Dreux and more. From 1982, Deborah began to travel widely. She exhibited her Arabian-themed art at the US Nationals, followed by several Arabian show venues in the eastern half of the States and Canada. Later, representatives would sell her prints and small originals at the same venues annually. Many times, she had a sellout. Travelling to farms, she delivered many commissions, such as Taylor Ranch in Utah in the 1990s. She flew over with the commissioned large porcelain sculptures of Nariadni (Nabeg x Nariadnaia) and later Muscat (Salon x Malpia) on the floor beneath her plane’s seat. In the early years, Deborah she visited many farms in over 15 states. From 2004 to 2007, she went over to Jordan and Israel, teaching art and exhibiting her artwork.
“I am a longtime resident in very pretty and rural western New York state,” Deborah relates. “I have had Arabians for over 36 years. My third-generation homebred mare Kaateeva (Kovat x Aamietta) lives with me. Now I am buying back my love of my life, a three-hectare small old farm I owned twelve years ago above Little Valley, New York.”
Since 2008, Deborah has signed her paintings with Arte DeRosier. “I took up our ancestral family name,” she explains. “In pain from health issues, I wanted to give a fresh restart to my image, my art business, and give myself a new outlook and focus. The response was also totally positive! I am still Deborah Rush in private life or legally. But I also believe my ancestral name identifies me better. It means ‘noble keeper of the roses’.”
Asked about her plans for the future, Deborah smiles: “If I’m alive and if I can still create by then, I wish to be in Kuwait and create a 3m wide scroll-style mural, featuring the life of a Bedu and his mare from birth to rebirth of the next, when the sheikh is very old. This is a dear point; I studied Bedouin culture for ten years. It was a great honour to sit in an aged Bedu’s tent, at the edge of the Negeb desert, in 2004. Since I knew their customs, it was like home; there was no awkwardness. Just that he no longer had a horse, but Salukis. Besides that, soon I hope to teach in my home studio, opening to art students, beginners to advanced, techniques to draw better. I have developed a fusion style of accumulated insights to share. My goal too will be to help other artists with stress and burnout issues. In our art world, fellow creatives can be under great stressors. It is a tough career to be in at times. We all need assurance and validation. This goal is also dear to my heart.
“Besides a deep gratitude to all my wonderful collectors in over twenty countries, there is this corresponding sense of expanding knowledge, to share with artistic-minded people, art collectors and breeders. All in accord with our mutual admiration of the magnificent Arabian horse.”
