DEE COPELAND
Deanna ‘Dee’ Copeland has been an Art lover all her life.
It all began with a Blue Mountains Art Competition. Dee won first prize while still in Primary School…drawing various cartoon characters to entertain her sister and later creating new styles of women’s clothing...she wanted to be a Fashion Designer….later horses and landscapes were in her repertoire. Her mother took her to numerous Art Galleries where she studied the Masters of the pre-Raphaelites, Renaissance, Impressionist and Classical periods.
After marrying, raising a family, completing a Degree (B.Bus HR/IR) a Masters (Adult Ed) and lecturing at two Universities, whilst running a OHS business for 21 years, Dee decided it was time to enjoy the finer things of life! Dee always had three main goals - to travel, to paint and to write a book!
The tragic loss of her husband in 2011 prompted Dee to travel - around Australia the British Isles and Europe, where she took a sketchpad and immersed herself in the history of the region. The opportunity to attend a 10-day Art Course in Tuscany Italy with well-known Sydney Artist Annie Herron opened up a new and exciting Art World for Dee. After that she attended many Art in Action Workshops in NSW and more recently Workshops in ACT run by ASOC.
Upon retirement in 2015 Dee moved from Menai to Canberra to be close to her family and revived her passion to paint and write. Dee is mainly a landscape artist using watercolour, acrylic and pen mediums. She has also written and published two books, historical fiction, about the life and challenges of an English woman immigrant in outback Australia in the 1940-50’s.
Dee is currently Secretary of the Artists Society of Canberra and in 2019, was Artist-in-Residence at the Lanyon Estate where she produced 10 beautiful artworks and exhibited at Dirty Jane’s, Fyshwick and the ASOC Spring Exhibition, held at the Fitters Workshop, Kingston. Dee is also a Tour Guide at Lanyon Homestead and enjoys sharing Canberra’s rich heritage.
This is Dee’s first Solo Art Exhibition. She is thrilled to be able to present to you her body of work…”Now and Then” meaning, life before and after COVID. This represents original artwork of her travels overseas and locally, most of which has been done plein air and later completed at home. The exhibition includes contemporary and still life artworks as she has endeavoured to explore new ideas and subjects.
Dee hopes you will find a painting or two that you connect with to take home and enjoy…a momento of this Special Exhibition held at the beautifully located Kyeema Gallery at Capital Wines, Hall.
