Meet Debbie Silberberg

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Debbie Silberberg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Debbie , so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.

There is an intuitive, free flowing, dreamy quality to my creativity. I walk through my 100+ year old back yard and find surfacing pieces of glass, pottery, metal, and shells and use these treasures to create pieces of artwork. The act of walking over rocks and through trees opens my creative spirit. Sometimes I pick up a piece, like a handle for a red wagon and know instinctually what I will be creating. Other times, I have a scavenger hunt to find the correct pottery size to finish a piece.
My dreams help keep my creativity going. Initially, I started as an artist trying to draw a dish of ice cream. I found the process frustrating, but in a dream, I realized that using crocheting and needlework, taught to me by my grandmother, were ways I could recreate my delicious dessert, and my career as an artist was born. I often go to sleep and ask for a solution to my current problem and will dream the answer and wake up motivated to continue.
Further fueling my creativity is inspiration from other artists. My social media accounts are filled with work that other artists are sharing. My appreciation for a choice of color, or curiosity about how they put pieces together, or what crochet stitch they used in their artwork keeps my creativity flowing!

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

My artist brand is MY BACKYARD ARTIFACTS. I believe in providing second chances to the discarded treasures in my backyard. I believe in fostering imagination through my artwork. I use this avenue to express ideas and feelings that are important to me. Hopefully, my audience will smile and use my art work as a license to access their own brand of imagination and decide what is important to them.
I gain great satisfaction from fostering opportunities to fellow artists. As a committee member representing my local county, I am part of the process that provides platforms for artists to create and display their artwork to the public. Through educational workshops, I encourage children and adults to create their own public art creations, allowing them to use their imagination in a supportive environment.
As one of the curators for an annual arts festival, I enjoy interviewing other artists giving them an audience to tell their process, knowledge, and inspirations. I also get to witness artist learning through our artist community.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

I felt anxious as a self-taught artist when I began to share my artwork, I wondered if my art work would be good enough compared to other artists who had gone to school for this career? I found that having a community where I could share finished and unfinished work was key to developing my own confidence as an artist. Searching on line for local art centers and communities and going to an art reception will give you a chance to meet other artists.
Being open to learning new skills is an additional way to develop as an artist. I have begun using pastels in my pieces and gained a greater perspective for viewing other art works from taking several pastel classes. The artists that inspire me most use various forms of expression. Even taking a one-day workshop can open you up to new possibilities as an artist.
Stretching past your comfort zone will help your work be seen more often and having the belief that your vision is important and should be shared will help build the layers needed to help you deal with rejection. Sometimes, there is no greater feeling than having your work exhibited in a show that stretches your boundaries so got for it!

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I love the idea of collaborating with different artists to see how we can inspire each other and what we can create together! Please reach out to me through these links:

Website: https://mybackyardartifacts.com

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/my_backyard_artifacts

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/my backyard artifacts