Debra Howard has been an artist and adventurer her entire life. She studied at Ringling School of Art and began her art career in San Francisco. Needing a break from the computer, she provisioned her 44' sailboat with art supplies, her dog and her daughter and began cruising. She eventually, arrived on Tangier Island in 2009 to accept the position of Artist-in-Residence and eventually, the position
of Director for the Tangier History Museum. Tangier is a isolated, swiftly, disappearing island in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay. Her work was featured in The American Scholar Magazine.
After years of travelling and painting from a sailboat she switched from sailing to camping. I now travel from April to November exploring and participating in Plein Air events in my little RV trailer.
She has been juried into Plein Air competitions in Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Maine and Virginia and is a member of the Mid-Atlantic Plein Air Painters Association. She was voted Best Visual Artist in Charleston, SC in 2007 and was the 2016 Artist-in-resident for Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. She now resides in Cris eld, Maryland.