DEBORAH SHAW - WIT AND WONDER
2020 ASBA James White Service Award for Dedication to Botanical Art
by Lugene Bruno
A conversation with Deborah Shaw always reveals her wit, determination, and resourcefulness. She spoke from her daughter and son-in-law’s home in Northern California where, since May, she and her husband have been assisting with the childcare of their grandson and newborn granddaughter during the pandemic. Descriptions of their workstations on card tables wedged between cardboard playhouses led to laughter about a last-minute request to change a live Zoom presentation to video for an online botanical art presentation. With the remote guidance of a friend, Deb cribbed together short videos from earlier presentations, but still had to dub a voice over. Imagine her environment: Windows shut and air purifiers running due to the acrid air from wildfires, and the continuous roar of chainsaws during the cleanup of wind-downed trees. Imagine her solution: A toddler’s table and chair (also ergonomically perfect for creating demonstration artwork) in a compact storage closet converted into a soundproof recording studio with bed pillows and couch cushions. The presentation was a success, but Deb was grateful that no video was made of her during its preparation.
For those who don’t know Deb, she started out as an analytical philosophy major and switched to fine arts, which eventually led to web design and the overarching tenet, “if this, then that.”