Photography by Debra K. Butler of Terre Haute is featured in River City Art Association’s September Artist of the Month virtual exhibition created by the Vigo County Public Library in Terre Haute.

Visit the library’s YouTube presentation here

“I am honored to be the designated artist of the month of September by the River City Art Association. As an artist, I have explored various mediums but have been primarily a landscape and nature photographer for the last forty years.

“For the library show, I provided photographs taken at different times in Turkey Run State Park. I tried to select a sampling that share my attraction to beautiful places as I hiked through Turkey Run State Park. While photographing in the field, I approach it as a “plein air” painting, and work to achieve the spatial balance in the digital shot with the layout and mood I want to capture. I do very little editing on the computer.

“The scenes I have presented in this collection share the natural surroundings that bring me serenity. Though at times I wonder if I am an artist or simply a perpetual tourist, if my photographs bring you even a moment of quiet calm, I am happy to have succeeded in sharing the beautiful world I see. I hope you enjoy this sampling.”

Debra grew up in Terre Haute and graduated from high school here. In college at Purdue, she studied physics, writing, psychology and took art classes in drawing, design, and photography. She moved to California and became a lawyer, which combined her diverse fields of study. She and her husband moved back to Terre Haute at the end of 2019 for retirement.

“While finishing my law degrees, I worked in retail stores in arts and crafts supplies, and framing departments, learning the use of different art materials, and framing techniques, and enjoyed painting and working with wood in my spare time. After becoming interested in 35 mm photography, I began taking photographs as an art form in earnest. I had fun photographing ball games and surfing events for friends, but discovered I much preferred taking scenery shots.

“When my legal career was most active, I was able to continue my artistic interests by photographing my vacation travels. After I started my own law practice, I was able to occasionally sneak away for a class, and spent time learning water color painting. But photography has always been my preferred medium for documenting the world I see. Because of my work as a disability lawyer, I feel a calling to capture what I see in my outings to share with less mobile friends.

“Now that I have more unstructured time, I have renewed my commitment to my artistic endeavors, and became a member of the River City Art Association, a vibrant organization of diverse artists. I recently began publicly sharing my photographs as I feel the serenity and regeneration that can be found in viewing beautiful nature scenes is especially needed now.”