“With great sadness, Darby Brown Fleming passed away on August 1, 2023. Darby was an extraordinary  person and part of our creative community. The Yarmouth Arts Alliance and Yarmouth Gallery Committee were honored to work with Darby on her first show of beautiful pastel landscape paintings held at the Merrill Memorial Library Gallery from early May to July, 2023. She will be deeply missed.” – Emily Blaschke, friend of the family.

Darby’s Artist Statement for the Spring 2023 Show, Blue Skies and Flowers:

I paint, both in the studio from reference photographs I have taken, and en plein air.  The finished work is rarely a mirror image of the photograph or outdoor subject, but rather a reminder of something that fascinated me - some interesting light on a feature, some natural form or unusual juxtaposition of elements.  I enjoy landscape painting, so I am constantly noticing my surroundings in the natural world.

Pastel painting allows me to combine my love of drawing and of painting.  I like to get my fingers into the work.  Even when painting in oils or watercolor I am always tempted to use my fingers to smudge a line or produce an effect.  Pastels allow me to blend and create shapes without the awkwardness I sometimes feel working in other mediums; they are perfect for what I hope to achieve in my work.

I have notebooks filled with pencil drawings of subjects I think would make an interesting painting.  I make black and white thumbnail sketches before I am ready to paint. These sketches help me stay true to the values of light and shadow I want to portray on paper – the interplay of light and shadow is what I am constantly attracted to and hope to recapture.

For me, pastel painting is a way of sharing my experience – that moment when something stands out and demands to be noticed.

Read Darby’s obituary here.