Passion For Art Continues to be Guiding Light For Starr

By Ruth Ann Ruiz

The Post Newspaper Features Editor

Are you looking for art that has deep meaning, art that makes you feel deeply, art that might be capable of conveying messages beyond what is seen on the surface? Do you crave the moody art of say Rembrandt or Picasso? If so, Debi Starr’s work is not for you.

If you are looking for fun, bright, keep it light and happy art that isn’t trying to change the world, art that just kind of sparkles, shines and enlivens your walls and spirit, then Starr is your artist.

Her work is filled with wine bottles, wine glasses, women, flowers, hearts, glitter and strokes of bright colors. Her body of work encompasses images that bring out smiles and a positive feeling. Even her cloudy day landscapes have a sense of cheer and happiness embedded within the paint. 

Women are her favorite subject to paint. “I like capturing an emotion, an expression with a stroke of paint, plus women are organic, soft, yet strong. So, I like painting women,” explained Starr. 

Currently a theme she is working on are women inside wine bottles. “It just came to me out of the blue. I compare women to wine. They both have legs, body, aroma essence, flavor and need to breath,” Starr shared. 

Creating with sparks of color is something she’s been doing without thinking about it since she was a child. “When I was a little girl at nighttime when I went to sleep, I’d see sparks of color,” said Starr.

She has no memory of not being an artist. “All the way back in circle at nursery school when the teacher asked what do you want to be when you grow up, I always said, ‘I want to be an artist.’ I’ve never wavered,” Starr shared. 

She loved the first day of school because it meant she would get to use all her new markers and crayons. Her parents let her take over an entire wall in the family home where she painted her first mural at age 13. 

Basically, Starr has led a fulfilled life with ups and downs and doesn’t look back with regrets at much of anything. She is not a rag to riches story, and life hasn’t thrown her too many curve balls.  

At one point in her life’s journey, she and her ex-husband owned an art gallery. “We had wine parties and shows, lots of people attended our events. But we didn’t make any money, but it was a lot of fun!” Starr’s eyes sparkle with delight as she recounts those lively events. 

She will never, ever again own her own gallery. “I’m an artist, not a businesswoman,” Starr declared.

A native Houstonian, Starr graduated from Houston’s High School for the Visual and Performing arts in 1983. Then she went on to The Art Institute in Chicago before she completed a BFA with a major in art education at Houston Baptist University in 1989. 

Her work, like herself, has an unmistakable youthful energy that captures and generates sunshine and joy as you sit and chat with her or admire one of her pieces. 

At one point, her work was available in galleries, but at the onset of the Pandemic she took it all down. Now her work is hanging on the walls of restaurants: Maria’s in Dickinson, Merlion in Seabrook and Pomodoro’s in League City. Soon her work will be adorning the walls of Collard Jewelers in League City. All her art on the walls at each location is available for purchase. 

“I sell more work now than I did in galleries,” Starr said. 

Starr also takes commissions for pet portraits and she works with interior designers adding to design ideas and creating unique pieces for clients.  

Starr is comfortable with her life and her art. She loves living near the water in Kemah. The sound of sails flapping in the wind is like an exquisite musical instrument to her ears. 

She sees her future filled with painting. “If I go a day without painting, I get anxious. I plan to paint as long as my eyes can see to create new pieces,” said Starr.