Deborah Cumming was born in Lanark. She commenced her art and design studies as a mature student whilst living in Chicago. On returning to Scotland Deborah studied graphic design at Edinburgh’s Telford College. This acted as a spring board to a career in the design industry where she worked for a number of years. During this period Cumming also acheived a Masters degree in design from Glasgow School of Art.
She has taught graphic design for a number of years. Starting at Napier University, Edinburgh and then Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen. She successfully secured a fully funded PhD studentship from Gray’s School of Art in design theory, which she completed in 2007.A move to London in 2010 resulted in her leaving her post at Gray’s School of Art to concentrate full time on her own artistic development in painting.
Today Deborah's art work is undertaken using traditional techniques whilst bringing a new twist to still life painting. Working in oils and applying glazes to her still life paintings she combines her love of flowers with that of textile designs drawing from her background in botanical illustration, design and textiles. Influences include design history, iconography and the early Dutch masters’. Often a distinctive feature of Deborah's still life paintings is the deep red background, reminiscent of Chinese lacquerwork. Her still life paintings contain rich and vibrant colours and feature a mixture of realism, illustration and design.
Her paintings are inspired by the simple kitchen scenes of the late 16th century Spanish painter Francisco de Zurbaran. Deborah compositions are mainly fabric and flora. Fabrics are sought for their pattern, textural qualities, colour combinations and historical references. They are then enhanced by the addition of a single flower stem or seed head. Cumming's distinctive style is easily recognised as influenced by her background in design, textiles and botanical illustration.
In addition to Red Rag Art Gallery Deborah Cumming art work has been exhibited at other leading Scottish Art Galleries. Each painting at Red Rag is sourced from the Deborah Cumming artist studio and like all Red Rag Scottish art and Contemporary art it can be shipped worldwide.
