Doreen Serago Khebzou

Bio

Doreen grew up in Cheltenham Pennsylvania  and has resided in southern New Jersey since 1980 when she came to work as a nurse in Atlantic City Medical Center.

As a young adult,  filled with wanderlust and a spirit for adventure she backpacked through Europe three times and traveled to Kenya, South Africa, Turkey and Brazil. After getting married and while raising  her three sons  she satisfied her penchant for creativity through writing and directing  children’s plays and teaching art to children at a preschool where she worked.

Her passion for nature turned toward environmental activism when she founded The Environmental Response Network in Atlantic County, NJ. to fight the plan to build 21 incinerators in her state. This led to a commercial for Greenpeace on VH1 and an appearance on the Joan Rivers Show.

When one of her sons displayed an interest in art she took a local painting  class with him and discovered a joy for drawing and a determination to learn more . She took a series of classes at Richard Stockton University and Atlantic Cape Community College, and began to enter local art shows.  She continued to take classes and workshops at Fleisher Art School in Philadelphia and Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts and strives to continue to learn through studying and practicing.

Although she likes to paint anything for the joy of it, she devotes most of her energy into  local landscapes and seascapes. Her paintings are realistic in style with an emphasis on mood and light.

She teaches children and adults in her home studio in Galloway, New Jersey

Artist Statement

My happiest place as an artist is painting outdoors. I am captivated by the living model and dance of light  before me. I was an intensive care nurse at one time and I liked the pace and fast changing atmosphere.  When I started painting, 25 years later, I was drawn to the unpredictability and  dynamic conditions of painting a landscape. I search for quiet and sometimes secluded areas in a forest or marshes. The Jersey beaches are another preferred setting. Direct observation and the alla prima method of painting wet into wet is my preferred practice in  painting outdoors or in the studio.

Growing up with 4 brothers and in close proximity to a park with a forest and a  creek I spent my formative years admiring trees , rocks,  birds and insects and searching  for interesting specimens. Nature, I believe is our greatest gift and painting enables me to tap into the spiritual connection I feel for it.

I am grateful for  being able to express my love and appreciation for nature and its restorative powers through painting. The idea of mixing oil paints and making shapes on a canvas or paper to create a likeness of what I see is fantastic to me. I take great pleasure in creating a little world within the picture frame that can  bring me and hopefully others a sense of peace and quietude.

I also enjoy working and teaching  in my studio. I look forward to  learning and exploring what is possible for me in painting and continuing my visual development.