Opening up the world of art
Astoria artist shares her
knowledge with students
across the country
BY KATHERINE LACAZE
Although she’s an exemplary artist in
her own right, Deborah Stenberg’s deep-
est satisfaction is derived from passing on
skills, techniques and knowledge about the
business side of creativity to others who
are just venturing into the art world.
Stenberg moved to Astoria in October.
Since then, she has been teaching college
courses, giving private lessons and creat-
ing artwork out of her new home.
“I love to see the excitement of students
succeeding,” Stenberg said. “Sometimes I
have to dig really deep to fi nd it but I can
always fi nd that artistic gene in any per-
son. And then the excitement when they
discover, ‘Oh my gosh, I can do this.’”
An Arizona native, Stenberg’s introduc-
tion to art was provided by her mother, a
registered nurse who wrote and illustrated
several nursing handbooks. Stenberg’s
mother would also regularly keep a piece
of paper near the phone and absentmind-
edly doodle animations and landscapes
when taking a call.
“I used to just sit there while she was
talking on the phone and watch her go to
town with these illustrations,” Stenberg
said.
Growing up, Stenberg also regularly
visited a cabin in northern Arizona with
her mom, who would bring fresh art sup-
plies and various projects for them to
work on during their stay.
During high school, Stenberg took
as many art courses as she could before
heading to the Academy of Art Univer-
sity in San Francisco. It was during her
undergraduate education that Stenberg
discovered her affi nity and natural talent
for portraiture, although she was initially
intimidated by the art form.
Katherine Lacaze
Artist Deborah Stenberg poses with an oil portrait she painted of her daughter.
As a college student, she was required
to do an artist copy. Drawn to the old
Dutch Masters, Stenberg selected a piece
by Leonardo da Vinci for the assignment.
“I completely shocked myself and
realized, ‘I can paint people and I’m sort
of good at it,’” she said. “That just started
this ball rolling and I was all into it.”
At Susan Thomas’ A Great Gallery
in Gearhart, where Stenberg has started
showing work, she is marketed as a por-
trait artist and still life painter, although
her talents encompass a broader fi eld of
artforms. She embraces the “Jack of all
trades, master of none” persona.
Most of Stenberg’s work is commis-
sioned. She enjoys only showing at a
couple galleries, she said, because there
is less pressure to continually create new
work and she can instead invest a major-
ity of her time into her primary love,
teaching.
Becoming a professor
After completing college and while
raising her four children, Stenberg made
a name for herself teaching private les-
sons and workshops. Her focus at the
time was tole painting, the art of decora-
tive painting on furniture, tins, wooden
utensils and other objects. She wrote fi ve
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