Deborah OKeeffe

Deborah O’Keeffe

Deborah grew up in New York and was encouraged and taught to draw by her father, who worked at the Museum of Natural History as an artist. She studied at SUNY New Paltz in upstate New York, and after graduating worked as a graphic artist and did freelance illustrations.
In the 1990’s she joined the Peekshill Artist Association after moving to the area and became a member of their board. Her work at the time was primarily in pen and ink and her subject matter was the historic buildings of Peekshill. Many of these illustrations were used in advertising the Downtown Peekshill Artist Community. One of her drawings of Pataki’s farm stand was selected to be given to Governor George Pataki when he was first elected, and many of her other works were made into limited edition prints and can still be seen in the Peekshill Chamber office.
In 1995 Deborah moved to Ireland and still lives and works there today. She briefly put her art career on hold and worked as a weaver at Mucross House, before returning to art and starting an art school for children. Her work had now progressed to the medium of soft pastels and featured the beautiful landscapes of Kerry, before later switching to oil painting to take the technique of landscape painting a step further and giving her more flexibility with her work.

In December 2010 Deborah opened the Back Lane Gallery in Killarney, a place for local artists to exhibit and sell their work at affordable prices.
In addition to her own gallery she is also currently exhibiting at the Frida Gallery in Yaull and the Boat House Gallery in Kinsale. Her winning artwork from the 2011 GreatArt Greetings Card Facebook competition is shown above entitled ‘Silent Night’ in soft pastels.