We all see the objects around us. Most of us blend this landscape into a continuous whole that we take for granted and largely ignore. Photographer Deborah Mills Thackrey sees these same objects in new and unusual ways. From oil-slick rainbows in a puddle to rust showing thru cracked paint on the side of an abandoned train car, she shows us the extraordinary in the familiar.

The challenge in Thackrey’s photographs is to see the original object—the glass brick, the manhole cover, the colorful boat reflected in a lake. You say “that can’t be a ______!”. Then you realize the limitation is in you, the object itself offered the unusual image Thackrey captured—you just need to free yourself of your pre-conceived ideas about that object to see the view she presents.

Thackrey counts Bret Weston, Jackson Pollock and Paul Klee as major influences. Weston’s passion for examining texture in the natural world, Pollock’s brilliant abstractions, and Klee’s fantastic use of color and graphic form inform her view of the world.

These are not computer-generated or images seen through a microscope, they are ordinary views captured by the extraordinary eye of Deborah Mills Thackrey. Her award-winning work is in private and corporate collections including Adobe’s. She has shown extensively in the Bay Area and in LA and Texas.

"Once, I heard a painter uncomfortably respond to someone who had described him as an artist. He thought the term premature, somewhat like a priest calling himself a saint and I understood what he meant immediately for it is time that determines who is an artist. However, along the way clues can suggest who may be traveling on a unique road leading themselves, and us into a way of seeing. These are the kind of individuals who help us see the world in different ways and they are rare.

Looking at the 'Reflections Series' of Deborah Mills Thackrey I am first taken aback at how she sees designs and colors in things and in places that most of us pass by and never see. The images, unaltered, are simply beautiful and they beckon the viewer to pause, take a breath and luxuriate in the patterns. I suspect Ms. Thackrey would have a similar reaction to being called an artist, as did the painter, but it is clear that she is traveling down a unique road that is her own and, along that path she is leaving clues that suggest a true creative spirit at work."

Michael Katakis
2008

June 2006– Solo exhibit "Reflections" at the Pacific Art League.

Juror George Rivera's comments: "Strong compositions and design, vibrancy of imagery"

"Glass Brick - Dream Landscape" Winner–First Place. May 2006 – Pacific Art League's "Photo/Sculpture" show.

Juror Helen Golden's comments; "This imaginative and innovative photograph stands out as both a personal and universal statement. The skillful composition "works" technically and the elements of color, line and pattern are in total harmony. The repeated and rhythmic curved forms create a mysterious mood and invite the viewer to ask questions about what is happening.

It is a creative success because it manages to be emotionally satisfying at the same time that it is challenging and provocative. This is like the heartbeat of the image and that goes beyond technical competence as it gets to the essence of what a visual statement is about."

September 2005- PHIG Juried Group Show, Pacific Art League, Norton Gallery, Palo Alto
Juror: Mark Citret, Honorable Mention, "Lake Union #11". Juror's comment "A really fine example of a photograph finding 'hidden messages' in the everyday world. A lyrical and clever photograph."

March 2004- LGAA Open Juried Show 2004, Los Gatos Museum of Art Juror: Phil Linhares
Prize: 2nd Place. "On the Road #2". His comments: "Very capable piece, appealing use of color and very dynamic".