In Many Feathers, Debbie Dieckmann offers insights into the quirks and habits of birds in her local habitat. Her work delves into the many different species of birds that inhabit "her world," capturing their feathers, nests, and relationships with whimsy and detail. Her paintings are complemented by mixed-media wearable art pieces that are inspired by birds.
Debbie Dieckmann, who is known as the "Bush Bower bird," collected various objects such as broken China, glass, feathers, and anything bright that caught her eye while growing up in the bush with her pony. She developed an early appreciation for the hidden beauty of nature and its interconnected relationships. After studying school at home, art and business at university, she pursued various careers, including pottery, bead store ownership, art teaching, and now co-coordination of "Country Heart Events." Although newly retired from the bush, she continues to create a new "bower" filled with items, dogs, and birds.
Debbie has had several notable achievements throughout her career, such as being a runner-up in the Australian Wool awards, exhibiting at the Santa Fe Bead exposition, and winning the title of Southern Downs ABC Rural Woman of the Year, and being a runner-up for the state in 1997 for her reinventing objects of the drought and giving them new life. She finds it difficult to throw away "interesting" objects and often stores them until they can be given new life and a new story through her creations. Debbie also incorporates natural objects from her bush environment to create unique adornment art pieces with a distinctive Australian flavor.
As someone who has spent her entire life in the bush, Debbie has a love of color and a sense of humor that is evident in her jewelry and wildlife paintings. She finds joy in capturing the stories and glimpses into the lives of local birds in her artwork, and watercolor is a medium she enjoys using as it gives light and movement to the birds. Her jewelry is whimsical, unique, and individual, and she creates bird brooches using recycled products such as clothing tags and other cardboard, which she hand paints and embellishes with fabrics, paper beads, fabric, and wire. Finally, the brooches are hand-sealed with resin for durability.
