Frances DeBlare
Who I Am
I am an Alaska transplant, as many of us are. We come from lands far and wide and fall in a deep unwavering love with Alaska, the landscape, the vastness of wilderness and never leave. This place has captured my heart and soul in a way no other place has. I belong here.
My journey here started years ago with a military move and evolved over years of exploration. The cities and population may be small but, that isn't why we are here. We are here to explore. To adventure. We adventure by bike and boat and snowshoes and skis. We climb and we descend. We seek views of mountains, trees, rivers and waterfalls, far and wide. We push our physical and mental limits to reach farther into the wild that calls our souls. Escape the cities and fast paced life to find ourselves and our tribe. The people of like mind, full of life and laughter. We feel free with our people and our pups. Our best adventure buddies, the furry ones. Trotting close at our heels with bells and lights. Through narrow single track, covered in overgrowth and over snowy frozen rivers in the darkest of nights, moon lighting out way, we adventure.
This is the Alaskan life. This is my life, where I truly live.
My wife, son and I adventure often with our pups. I am happy to share my art, inspired by life.
My Art Journey
There has always been art! Paint and ink, graphite and film. Building thing with wood. Doodles that turned into more. My creativity has taken me through many mediums and is ever evolving. I bought my first "real" camera in high school with hard earned money from my summer jobs, extra chores around the house and began shooting around the city I lived in and the forests of Northern California. Love for photography followed me in my military career and into portraits where I found a true passion and strong client base in Rapid City, South Dakota. I was lucky enough to have opportunities to shoot fashion with a local boutique, boudoir and pinup, weddings, pets and family portraits. The Black Hills and Badlands graced my camera lens and offered many opportunities to further hone the self-taught skills I was developing.
I moved back to Alaska and found myself in the woods and completely awed by the beauty of the land around me. Some portraits here and there but ultimately it was the outdoors that I craved and were the focus of my photography endeavors.
Then I discovered cycling. Hikes with a camera turned to long hours in the saddle. The bulky DSLR of my "previous life" was traded for more compact, durable (and waterproof) versions and many of the landscape scenes would only live on in my mind. As I grew more active, my creative outlets transitioned to more restful activities and I entered more into the digital art world and experimented with resin work.
Resin was a whole new medium, unlike anything I had tried before and I just couldn't go the "normal route" I saw all over social media, using molds to create pyramids or skulls or jewelry trays. I tapped into my wood working skills and started with resin and wood eventually taking on an upcycled side with incorporation of old bike parts into various shapes, textures and styles. Coasters and wall art, bookmarks and earrings.
I am confident my creative journey will continue to evolve and grow. Artwork to fund creation of new artwork. I do this for fun, because I enjoy it, and hope others can find joy in it too.
