Commissions
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House Portrait Pricing
10×14 image $600. 14×20 image $1000. 18×24 image $1400. 22×29 image $1800.
Larger images contact for quote.
Prints of the portrait can be made for gifts.
Painted on Arches 100% cotton museum-grade paper with only the finest quality and most lightfast archival-grade watercolors. Please note, the quoted prices do not include family members or pets in the portrait, but if this is what you want it isn’t a problem. Contact Deborah for a quote.
Examples of House Portraits
Click on an image to view a larger version.
Artist Statement
I am a self-taught artist. I began painting after my children gave me a box of watercolors purchased in a toy store for Mother’s Day in l992—the same year I became divorced after an 18-year marriage. I have been painting full-time since March of 1994.
I paint what I love, what I want to love or appreciate--what I want to really “see” and what I want to come to understand. I seek in my paintings to find a greater uplifting truth and beauty than I can usually find in my daily life. I want to be reminded and to remind—life is very good, joy is in the small moments, beauty is found in the imperfection at hand.
The common thread of my paintings is an exploration of daily life. The images and symbols I use are common to all our lives and represent, for me, both the home we live in and the one we carry inside. This subject also allows me a way to exercise and explore my traditional female energy in a non-traditional world, to heal from a difficult past, and to consider at a deeper level the challenges of life and that idea we call home.
My paintings have helped me to heal from a childhood marked by abuse and the deaths of my brothers. Through my art, I create and explore what is right in the world. It helps me to remember that while there is oft times terrible tragedy, there is always, existing simultaneously, a wonderful good. In encouraging myself, I hope I am encouraging others.
While I work in many mediums (watercolor, pencil, ink, collage, ceramic and wire), I am best known for my paintings and collages. I have developed my own watercolor technique and painting style. Indeed, there are now young artists independently working in my painting style as well as coming for instruction. My collages are, again, a new way of working with recycled magazine pages. I call them torn paper mosaics. They are an exhausting process requiring a trust in your own art and a willingness to unfold.
My original works have sold all across the United States and in many foreign countries. Having been represented in galleries from Maine to Florida, I have mounted over 150 shows, completed over 500 commissions and been published both as an artist and a writer. I love my work spending 80 plus hours a week in my studio.
Press Quotes
“Deborah Cavenaugh, seeking a fluid intensity, approaches the ecstatic clarity of Walter Anderson or Minnie Evans. [Her] nearly primitive directness resonate[s] with sincerity and honesty.”
John A. Hancock, Contemporary Watercolors, Annie Boykin Gallery
“Cavenaugh... paints in colors that recall an Eastern European city or a Turkish Kilm or perhaps Matisse after a visit to a textile factory.”
Catherine Quillman, Philadelphia Inquirer
“The color is so vivid. The brightness in each and every one of these [works] communicates a kind of joy that one doesn't normally see in paint.”
The Diane Rehms’ Show, NPR, Washington DC
“Colorful, spirited paintings... she paints things I like in a very unique way.”
George White, Cincinnati Inquirer
“Among seven of the best-known expression artists in the country.”
Gibson Greetings, Inc., Artist's Corner, (Gibson is the nation's 3rd largest producer of greeting cards.)
“Cavenaugh paints what she knows best – home…Fans of Cavenaugh’s work connect with the stories she paints.”
Paco Strickland, Focus on the Coast
“Her (Cavenaugh) scenes invite the viewer into her world where they can recognize their own.”
Blonnie Wyche, Encore Magazine
“She (Cavenaugh) is known for her portrayal of comfortable scenes and familiar images with which everyone can identify…. Whether it’s families in their homes, on the beach, or in the park, Cavenaugh’s watercolors are vivid and imaginative.”
Cary Magazine
“She writes on all her paintings, whether it is a sentence or a fragment of a sentence. ‘They (the sayings) are always positive in nature,’ said Deborah. “They are a verification or a validation of what I believe or what I want to remember that is good.”
Kristina Florea, Lumina News
“Cavenaugh's works are of lived-in rooms and happy homes.”
Roberta Penn, Lumina News
“Deborah's work sells not only for the beautiful way she paints, but just as often for the message of inspiration she writes on every painting.”
Mel Jackson, Airlie Moon
“Deborah Cavenaugh brings a fresh and relaxing style of impressionist painting... using familiar memories to connect the viewer to her paintings.”
Roberto Salazar, Up&Coming
“As playful as they are powerful, the Madonnas embrace motifs of women's ordinary work, issues of choice, and the amusing notion of having one's furniture arranged on the beach.”
Bill DiNome, NPR, Wilmington, NC
“Apparently, she's struck upon a visual language that, to her, is saying something for people that they can't say for themselves.”
Richard Sceiford, Spectator Magazine
“Her work is extremely colorful and ornate, evoking a sense of warmth, security and pleasure of a home.”
Carolina Style Magazine
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Cavenaugh has had over 75 shows. Galleries from Maine to Florida have hosted her work. Her original art hangs in private collections across the country and in many foreign countries.
Read MoreAbout Deborah Cavenaugh
Deborah Cavenaugh is a self-taught artist. She began painting on Mother’s Day in 1992 after her children presented her with a box of watercolors they bought in a toy store.
In late 1993, Cavenaugh took a couple of the paintings she had made (mostly to make her children happy) out from under the bed where she kept them stored. Her bold idea was to frame a few pieces for her own bedroom. A local frame shop happened to send Cavenaugh a coupon. The frame shop happened to be owned by a gallery. The gallery owner happened to be in the frame shop that day, saw Cavenaugh’s work, and put her under contract right then. The next week, three paintings sold.
Cavenaugh still didn’t take it seriously, however. It wasn’t until about six months later when she was offered a show at a popular local-art’s restaurant, that Cavenaugh decided to paint as hard as she could for one year and see what would happen. That was in March of 1994.
Today, Cavenaugh has had over 75 shows. Galleries from Maine to Florida have hosted her work. Her original art hangs in private collections across the country and in many foreign countries. Cavenaugh is a respected commission painter, loved for her portraits of families, houses, and pets… and for the blessings she writes on every painting. She has a popular website with a store that offers about 300 different prints. Her print and card lines are distributed internationally. She has been featured in newspapers, magazines, NPR, and on television. An author and illustrator, Deborah is represented by Linda Konner Literary Agency in NYC.
Deborah Cavenaugh paints comfortable scenes and familiar images from life as we know it. She invites the viewer into her world—a world that they already recognize from their own. Cavenaugh’s watercolors are colorful and complicated. She is known for the sayings she writes on each and every piece—sayings, Cavenaugh says, are “all about making life a little easier, a little more joyful, and helping us all to recognize that on any day, while the list of all that is going wrong could be written down, the list of all that is going right could never be finished”.
Deborah Cavenaugh Fabric
*if you would like to be notified when the fabric is released, send an email to Deborah@DeborahCavenaugh.com and you will added to the mailing list.
about my fabric
Oh my goodness, I have been such a frustrated fabric designer. If you have followed my art, you know I am always designing table cloths, sheets, wall paper, upholstery and on and on. Ok. So, now I am going to do it. Be patient and check back (or leave your name to be notified). I promise to make my fabrics as full-on Deborah Cavenaugh as they can be. What fun! (P.S...I designed the fabric on the couch when I was creating my card line.)