About the Artist

I have always enjoyed plants, flowers and gardening and I was fortunate to have had the opportunity to study them, first at the State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry and then latter to receive my PhD from Oregon State University from the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology.

As a child my father showed me how to grow mung beans in a drinking glass with water and a paper towel and watch the progress they made every day. After that I was hooked. Growing up in a rural setting allowed me to explore in the woods. I remember one time believing my friend Jennifer and I discovered a new life form when found stink horn fungi growing near her house. As it turned out the samples we had collected and brought to the local environmental conservation center revealed they had been discovered before. I believe I had felt like an early plant hunter, with the imagined discovery of a new species. It was very exciting.

Skipping forward in time to 2001, while sitting in a lounge in Heathrow Airport reading the Times I happened upon an article describing contemporary botanical art, about courses, painters and their work. I signed up immediately, and although I had to wait for a cancellation I began learning Botanical Painting with Anne Marie Evans at her Rutland home. Several workshops, teachers and a diploma in Botanical Painting from The English Gardening School at the Chelsea Physic Garden, London later Botanical Painting and teaching Botanical Painting has become my passion.

I moved back to the high desert of Central Oregon in 2006 and have continued to paint. My work has been shown in several local exhibitions. I have begun tutoring others on a one to one basis and I look forward to painting and teaching more in the future.

Her Training

Jeanne Debons earned her PhD from the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University in 1986, and subsequently has studied botanical painting on her own and at the London School of Gardening receiving a diploma as a Botanical Illustrator in 2005.

Member of the American Society of Botanical Artists (ASBA)

 

Commissions

I have completed paintings for textbooks as well as for individuals requiring something specific. Please contact me if you require an illustration or a painting.