Drenda Duff’s snapshots of daily living are rendered in watercolor and oil, employing dramatic figuration within a larger urban/oceanic motif. Unique color gradations capture the play of light on sand, rock, sea and foam. In other incarnations, we see the same meticulous attention paid to light in an urban setting, the glint of its rays on the subtle translucence of a windowpane or town car. Duff captures flow and stillness with equal vigor. Compelling realism enhanced with an impressionistic lens, these paintings speak to the universality of human behavior through the specificity of folkloric visions of the North American west coast. Her dual focus on sea and land, organic and static, presence and absence sets up a dynamic tension in the visual narrative spanning her oeuvre.
Drenda Duff graduated in 2009 with a BA in Art/Art History from Portland State University. She currently paints full-time in her Cannon Beach studio in Oregon.