Bio

Debra Sheffer is a landscape painter. She is currently graphic design director at Bridgewater College in Bridgewater, VA.

Although she has lived in the Augusta County, VA, area for many years, much of her youth was spent in Nigeria where her parents taught at a teacher training college. Sheffer majored in art at Bridgewater College and studied drawing at James Madison University. Although graphic design became her career choice, she has remained committed to the practice and study of painting. Since the mid-1990s, she has benefited from the influence of many fine artists through workshops at the Beverley Street Studio School in Staunton, VA.

Sheffer works primarily in oils and her much of her work is done plein air, on-site, with some larger works completed in studio. Since 2019 she has also been experimenting with gouache. Her paintings have been selected for juried shows, such as the American Landscape Show, Nelson Gallery and the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Show, and is often included in local and regional shows. Recent awards include Honorable Mention at the Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community Show and the Best River Painting award at the Bath County Show.

Her work is shown at CoArt Gallery in Staunton, VA, and Warehouse Art Gallery in Luray, VA.