Deb Chaney, submitted artwork
Deb Chaney
Painting, Installation
Gabriola Island, BC, Canada
Deb Chaney is a contemporary abstract artist who lives and works on the west coast of British Columbia, Canada. Her acrylic and mixed media paintings emerge from an intuitive, layered process through which she explores presence, well-being, and the restorative nature of creative practice. Raised in Vancouver and immersed from an early age in hiking, camping, and ocean swimming along the Pacific coast, Chaney later earned a B.Sc. in Earth and Ocean Sciences from the University of Victoria. These experiences continue to inform the textured surfaces and natural palette that characterize her work. Chaney’s paintings are held in private and corporate collections internationally, including the Hilton Hotel, and have appeared in public art installations as well as film and television productions on Netflix and Hulu. Her work has been featured in publications including The Vancouver Sun, Style at Home Magazine, The Georgia Straight, and What Women Create Magazine. Grounded in presence and conscious creativity, her work reflects an ongoing exploration of well-being, connection, and the quiet transformative potential of the creative process.
Works
Deb Chaney, submitted artwork
Painting is a way for me to come into alignment with myself. Through the act of making, I generate a sense of presence, balance, and well-being. The studio becomes a place of exploration where intuition, curiosity, and attention guide the work forward. My paintings develop through the gradual building and removal of acrylic and mixed media layers. I add, scrape back, and rework surfaces until the painting arrives at a sense of balance and completion. Materials such as sand, coffee grounds, pastel, and pencil create tactile surfaces where marks, gestures, and layered media bring vitality, connection, and depth to the work. A lifelong relationship with the forests, ocean, rock, and sand of the Pacific coast quietly informs the paintings. Rather than depicting the landscape directly, these experiences shape the palette, surfaces, and physical presence of the work. I often work on several paintings at once, allowing time for pieces to rest before returning with fresh perspective. Through this process I seek to create paintings that feel both grounding and uplifting—works that invite viewers to pause and experience the energy and presence within the surface.
