KEVIN A DECK

From early childhood I have been interested in making things. This love of craft and design has found expression in plein-air sketching, printmaking, graphic design, digital media, furniture making, music, architecture, and most recently in watercolor painting.

The majority of my current work is transparent watercolor with a mix of pen and ink washes. My figurative work includes natural and urban landscapes, regional subjects, and work inspired by travel. My abstracts spring from compositions found in my completed works or photography.

I paint what interests me. The things that jump out of the ordinary, the mundane, the default, as I observe life. From a crack in the pavement, to shadows from a tree striking a storefront, to fading light on a canal in Venice. I often get lost in the intense light, the lush shadows, the reflections, shapes, and colors, that make up our world.

My work begins when I settle on a subject with a strong composition. Next comes an accurate drawing. Before paint touches paper, I plan my approach from large graded washes to finer details. I get completely absorbed in the process and lost in the moment. I critique everything. I make scores of adjustments and finally call it done. I work on one painting at a time. The joy derived from this act of painting is difficult to put into words.

I was born in Memphis in 1959 and moved to Fairfax, Virginia in 1966. I studied architecture at Virginia Tech and graduated in 1982. After working five years in Williamsburg my wife and I moved to Roanoke where we raised four children. I continue to work as an architect in Roanoke for a firm specializing in senior living design.