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Debra Clemente Lawrence Journal World Article
October 24, 2007
Painter pushes through pain to create art
Photo by Mike Yoder. Enlarge photo.
Debra Clemente, Lawrence, has an art show at the Phoenix
Gallery in Topeka through the end of the month. At one
point, Clemente had given up painting because of rheumatoid
arthritis. Since then she has found a new method of
painting that makes it possible for her to paint with less
pain. Clemente is shown in front of one of her paintings at
Stone Creek Restaurant, 3801 W. Sixth St., which she owns.
Email Comments (3) iPod-friendly Print By Terry Rombeck
October 22, 2007
Paintings by Debra Clemente
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'Painted Memories'
What: Paintings by Debra Clemente
Where: Phoenix Gallery, 2900 SW Oakley Suite F in Topeka
Hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 11
a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday
Six years ago, Debra Clemente took the backroads from her
home in Lawrence to her native Wichita.
The trip, which usually takes 2 1/2 hours, took seven. She
photographed the flowers, grasses and hills she saw along
the way.
She saw vibrant hues — a contrast to the stereotypically
boring sights most people think of.
“I see Kansas that way,” she says. I want others to see
that, too.”
The result was a set of paintings that are on display at
the Phoenix Gallery in Topeka.
The exhibition represents both an evolution in thought for
the native Kansan and a major physical accomplishment —
Clemente suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease
and, because of her hard work on the project, carpal tunnel
syndrome.
But she’s not backing down from her art, as difficult as it
may be at times.
“It’s really scary,” she says. “This is what I do. I have
to do this. I have all these things I have to express.”
‘My path’
Clemente majored in visual communications at Kansas
University and worked for a few years as an illustrator.
She also has helped her husband, David, who is a
home-builder.
About 12 years ago, she decided to start to do her own
paintings. Instead of painting with oils and a brush, she
layered the oils on with a palette knife.
“I’m really glad that is the way I took my path,” she says.
“Along the way, I created my own signature, my own path. In
the end, to market yourself, you have to be unique.”
Now, Clemente’s process works this way: She spreads out
globs of paints into paper napkins, then uses a 5-inch
knife to layer the paints onto a canvas. She usually has to
complete her paintings within a few days or the paintings
dry out too much to get the right layering.
“Most of the time,” she says, “there’s a blending effect,
so it’s not so separated.”
Health concerns
Clemente suspects she’s caused some of her own health
problems through the years.
“I’d been pretty stupid with the way I cleaned up,” she
says. “I’d clean myself with paint thinner.”
Now, making art with a palette knife means she can use
bigger hand motions that don’t hurt her arthritic hands as
much as using a brush might. Still, she worked so hard on
this show that she ended up with carpal tunnel syndrome —
and that comes after last December, when she ruptured a
disc in her back and had to undergo surgery.
“Necessity allowed me to do what I ultimately wanted to do
with my oils anyway,” she says.
Her style of painting has earned her a top-tier art fan.
A painting of a sunflower by Clemente was included in an
art exhibition at Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ office last year.
Sebelius liked the painting well enough a donor was
identified to purchase it, and now it hangs over her
personal desk in her office.
“I think the painting is beautiful,” Sebelius says. “It
reminds me of the natural beauty of Kansas and this
wonderful flower which turns to find the sun and provides
beauty as well as great nutrients — a perfect Kansas
symbol.”
Changing styles
Over time, Clemente’s work has become more abstract. Her
latest exhibition at the Phoenix Gallery has brightly
colored wheat fields, a barn that glows blue in the
twilight sun and neon-blue Kansas skies.
“She really took a chance,” says Kyle Garcia, the Lawrence
resident who owns the gallery. “The color is extremely
bold. It’s a spin on Kansas that I don’t think a lot of
people have seen yet.”
What they find is a mix of familiar and unfamiliar — common
scenes painted in an uncommon way.
“Rural people get it,” Garcia says. “In fact, they might
have gotten it more. They’ve seen these scenes, but they
haven’t intellectualized them.”
Clemente, a lifelong Kansan, says she’s glad others have
been receptive to a new look at the state she loves.
“I’ve wanted to paint Kansas the way I see it,” she says.
“I don’t have to go to Italy to paint. I have it here. They
always say, ‘Paint what you know.’ This is what I know.”
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