Debbie Rittner is a fourth generation Boston Jewish Expressionist, and the granddaughter of a florist. She studied improvisation and comedy at the Celebration Barn Theater, and that spirit informs her art. Debbie’s newest body of work is a prayer for peace and healing in the midst of construction and development in her own hometown. Her latest compositions integrate both nature and found objects.

After running a 5K race on Thanksgiving Debbie discovered that her husband had lost her favorite hat, and that her race result was not correct. So Debbie decided to create a series of acrylic monotype prints about these mishaps.

Using the safety pins from her bib, the chip on the back of the bib, her husband’s discarded dental floss, her mother’s bobby pins, and her father’s old washers she has brought to life what went wrong before and after the race. Using the netting from a clementine box she applied gentle hand pressure to these found objects, on a hand cut 3" x 3" gelatin plate, to make the impressions you see on paper.

Debbie received her “corrected race result” as soon as she had finished creating this “Flossed” series.

What the Floss did to Me Microscope Purple Clementine Light Flossed
X marks the floss The colors I choose Lining up the Safeties Good Friends

“Seeing your new work really was like a healing hand on my heart.”
—Peggy Robertson, Holliston, MA


To browse these and more of Debbie's works,

and be sure to contact Debbie with any inquiries about current work!