Deborah Hake Brinckerhoff

The palette knife and the use of fast brushstrokes are two essential tools to Brinckerhoff’s paintings. Both allow her the freedom to be loose and free flowing in ideas and shapes as she creates. If she slows or becomes self-conscious she gets tight and her process becomes stagnate.

From an early age Brinckerhoff could capture accurate images on paper. In high school she attended Wesleyan’s summer art program, helping her in building a portfolio, which would gain her acceptance into The Rhode Island School of Design to study art. Graduating from RISD in 1992, Brinckerhoff strayed from art because the academic life stifled her desire to paint.

Losing her zest for painting, she decided to leave for Europe to explore a new opportunities. She held five different jobs during her stay. Working for a doctor who refused to pay, and then as a waitress in a café. Through her job as a waitress she received her first commission, painting murals on the walls of the store. After painting this mural, commissions started pouring in, which garnered enough money for her to return stateside and rekindled her relationship with art.

“It’s the relationships that are important. We are only on this earth for a short time, searching for our best selves,” Brinckerhoff states. She realized that she couldn’t deny the vision that makes her an artist. Her scenes are small bites of life, yet everything is interconnected. Brinckerhoff’s work speaks of an isolated, protected moment, that cant’ help but be connected to everything else in the world.