Deborah Bays

Deborah Bays has been blessed with a life in the arts. She was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1951 and spent her early years in the formal study of music, playing violin and viola. In college her focus shifted to her first love, that of making visual art. She earned a bachelor of Arts in Costume Design for the Theater at the University of Texas at Austin. She then went on to complete a Master of Arts in sceneology at Purdue University. She settled in Denver and for two and one half decades designed costumes and sets for Regional Repertory Theater, The Hong Kong Repertory Theater, The Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Harrah's, Off-Broadway and Public Television.

After so many years of making art as a member of a team she longed for a more personal expression. This led her to study drawing and painting with many fine artists (among them David Leffel, Quang Ho and James Valone) and teachers at the Art Student's League of Denver. While she still has a passion for both the theater and music, nothing has proved as profound a challenge or as rewarding as painting. Her favorite medium is pastel and her favorite subject is light revealing form and conversely form revealing light.

Selected Exhibitions and Awards
2004 Grand Prize Award, Pastel Journal

Publications
Pastel Journal, April, 2004
Southwest Art Magazine, August, 2003