About the artists

Dee Beard Dean

“I think that no artist has a choice but to create.” “I always tell my students that they don’t have to look far to find beautiful subject matter.” Dee agrees with the 20th century impressionist artist Charles Hawthorne, who said: “Anything under the sun is beautiful if you have the vision. It is the seeing of the thing that makes it so.”

Dee Beard Dean has been painting all her life. She was raised in the Amish countryside in rural Indiana and studied art at Grand Rapids College, Kendall College, and the New York Academy of Art. After marriage, she moved to the Florida Keys where she passed the gift to her two children, Terry and John, both of whom are now successful artists. Dee has studied with many nationally renowned artists and her career has also included designing clothing with a national label, sculpting, and teaching art. She is married to Dr. Nicolai Chalfa and they live in Davidson, NC.

Dee is a passionate and prolific artist who is nationally recognized for her expertise in watercolors, oils, and pastels. Her greatest inspirations have come from painting on location where all the senses are elevated. She later became the founder of Plein Air Painters of the Southeast, a nationally-recognized professional organization of plein air painters. Dee is in great demand as a teacher of plein air and teaches national and international workshops. She is also well known for her portraits and has done many noteworthy commissions. Dee has received many awards at competitions, she has been published in many regional and national journals, and her artworks can currently be seen at galleries around the country.

MENTORS

Dee has  studied with such renowned artists as Millard Wells, Peggy Merrick, Daniel Greene, Everette Raymond Kintsler, Ron Riddick and Scott Christensen.

AWARDS & SHOWS

2007 Solo Show, Anderson fine Art Gallery, St. Simons Island, GA
2007 Solo Show, Auld Alliance Gallery, Nashville, TN
2007 Solo Show, Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2006 Solo Show, Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2006 First Place, Quick Draw Competition, Plein Air Easton
2006 Plein Air Easton Invitational Competition, Easton, MD
2006 Solo Show.Anderson Fine Art Gallery, St. Simons Island, GA
2006 PAP-SE Exhibition, Anderson Fine Art, St. Simons Island, GA
2006 Peoples Choice Award, PAP-SE Exhibition, Anderson Fine Art
2005 Third Place, Quickdraw Competition, Plein Air Easton
           Honorable Mention, Landscapes, Plein Air Easton
2005 Plein Air Easton Invitational Competition, Easton, MD
2005 Peoples Choice Award,  Quinlan Art Center, Gainesville, GA
2005 PAP-SE Exhibition - People's Choice Award -  Richmond, VA
2004 PAP-SE Exhibition, Smith-Killian Gallery, Charleston, S.C.
2004 Solo Show,  Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2004 Solo Show,  Quinlan Art Center, Gainesville, GA
2003 SoloShow, Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2003 Director's Choice Award,  Quinlan Art Center, Gainesville, Ga.
2003 Solo Show, Auld Alliance Gallery, Nashville, TN
2002 Solo Show, Anne Irwin Fine Art, Atlanta, GA
2002Show, Alix Porras Gallery, Fitchburg, MA
2001  Show, Bourge Ecuador Gallery, Cascais, Portugal
2000  Show, Amado Territory Inn Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2000  Show, Scottsdale Art Association, Scottsdale, AZ
2000-01 Show, Street of Dreams, Canton, GA
1999  Show, De La Grove Chateau, Bordeaux, France
1999-2001 Show, The Love Fest, Tifton, GA
1998  Show, Oconee Cultural Arts Festival, Watkinsville, GA
1998 Honorable Mention, Southeastern Pastel Society, Hilton Head, SC
1989 First Place, Mooresville Art League, Portrait Division, Mooresville, N.C.
1983 Best of Show, Fort Meyers Art Group, Fort Meyers, FL
1978 First Place, Florida Keys Art Guild, Watercolor Division

PUBLICATIONS

2007 The Navigator, Lake Norman, NC
American Art Collector Magazine, January 2006
American Art Collector Magazine, April 2006
American Art Collector Magazine, November 2006
American Art Collector Magazine - January, 2005
2003 Athens Banner Herald
2003 Nashville News
2003 Georgia Good Life Magazine - 4-page editorial
2002 Atlanta Journal
2002 Athens Banner Herald

PORTRAIT COMMISSIONS OF NOTE

The Honorable Georgia Governor, Zell Miller & wife, Shirley Miller
Former Opera Singer, Barbara Howell
Miss Teenage Georgia, Patty Dunn
Retired Fulton County Chief Judge, Charles Carnes
Retired Judge, George Bryant
Children of Masters’ Golf Winner, Davis Love