Ms. Starry with The
Book of Love at The
Love Show, Launch Pad Gallery, Portland, Oregon, February '07.

Who Is Ms. Starry?

When not gracing the night sky (in the constellation of Scorpius), Ms. Starry is sometimes the luminous Alter-ego of Portland, Oregon artist Debbie West. What she does the rest of the time, no one knows, and Starry was not available for comment. Who can explain the wanderings of celestial beings?

Debbie West Bio

I was raised in a crafting household and played along while my Mom tried just about every art form there is. Over the years I have worked in media including printmaking, collage, photography and writing. Now I spend most of my time printmaking - creating letterpress cards featuring original linoleum block and woodcut designs. I also enjoy writing and making small press publications. I am committed to using recycled materials and to promoting creative reuse through art!

Lately, in addition to holiday cards, I am working on several zines, one about an amazing trip to Korea I took in September, and one an interview with my father about Vietnam. I am also working on a letterpress printed book about Bigfoot!

Part of my artistic mission is to support and encourage others in their creative pursuits. To that end, I am a creative and life coach, and I work with artists/creatives and students and others on a creative path. I am offer individual coaching, and lead several creative groups. Check out my coaching website for more information!

Exhibits

4 Prints in the Northwest Creatures Series - Sasquatch, Jake the Alligator Man, Cadborosaurus, and Aliens - (Linoleum block prints) in The New Year Show, Pony Club Gallery, January 2008, Portland, OR

Data Storage 1 (Assemblage with Recycled Materials) in Reuse 2, April 2007, Portland, OR

The Book of Love (Collage Book) in The Love Show, Launch Pad Gallery, Feb-March, 2007, Portland, OR

S.T.O.P. (Photograph) in Disoriented, And You And You Gallery, December, 2006, Portland OR

Route 8, Texas (Photograph) in America, Launch Pad Gallery, July 2006, Portland, OR

The Beauty in Loneliness (Linoleum Block Print) in Alien and Sedition, Mark Woolley Gallery, June 2006, Portland, OR

The Book of Love: A Work in Progress (Collage Book) in The Art of Surprise, Alberta Art Hop, May, 2006, Portland, OR

Granny’s Bathtub and Aunt Ruth’s Bathroom (Marker Drawings) in The Bathtub Art Museum Art Show, The Know, September 2003, Portland, OR 

Other Artistic Accomplishments

Singer/Songwriter Paula Sinclair set two of my poems to music and they are included on her cd The Good Horse, which is a whole cd of works by Oregon poets that she set to music. It's amazing and I was really honored!

One of my poems, Twists and Turns, is included in a poetry anthology/Portland bridge tour book, Walking Bridges Using Poetry as a Compass, by Sharon Wood Wortman. I was so honored to be included!

The Book of Love combines poetry and images I wrote and created from 1981 to today. I started this book in 2006 as a way of honoring at my past in terms of relationships, and looking toward the future. The Book of Love is nothing if not a work in progress!

Skeletons on Belmont, July 2004, Performance Works Northwest, Portland, OR. In this 45-minute original solo performance piece, I used visual art, spoken word text, and improvisational dance (with a life-sized skeleton) to explore divorce thorough the larger themes of the cycle of life, death and transformation.

The Book of Shadows, July 2005, Portland, OR. This original collage book furthers the themes in Skeletons on Belmont and pays homage to Stan, the fabulous dancing skeleton.