One of seven children, Dee grew up in a small upstate New York Adirondack village on the Hudson River. Her childhood was different than most, the large family’s home was in an apartment over the 5th generation family Funeral Home business. Dee has many fond memories from her childhood, her parents made sure humor and fun were very much alive in the home.
Dee has extensive experience in illustration and design. She graduated cum laude from Syracuse University with a BFA from The School of Art and Design, College of Visual and Performing Arts. She won the Most Outstanding Fashion Illustration Student Award at SU for three consecutive years. With a background in fashion illustration and a love for animals, her work is whimsical & linear with an emphasis on pure color and exaggerated form & movement. Humor is also an important element. “If I chuckle while I’m sketching an image, I know I got it!” Her major influences are Picasso, Antonio Lopez, Hirschfeld, Erte and Dr. Suess. www.deedensmorestudio.com
Her work has been published in many publications including The AKC Gazette, Modern Dog Magazine, Cosmopolitan and Women’s Wear Daily. She has sketched in the design studios of various well known fashion designers, including Diane von Furstenberg and Ursula of Switzerland. She teaches Fashion Drawing for the Fashion Design program at Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY and has taught Fashion Drawing and Digital Fashion Drawing at Cazenovia College, Cazenovia, NY. Dee also created a typeface for The International Typeface Corporation based on her handwriting called ITC Deelirious, itcfonts.com. She is a freelance designer for Brandano Displays Inc., a holiday decoration manufacturer. Many of her whimsical light sculpture designs are seen in popular drive through holiday display shows nationwide, including Lights on the Lake at Onondaga Park. She is also the Director of the Brewerton Center for the Arts, Brewerton, NY, a 501c3 nonprofit Art Center in a beautiful historic stone church encouraging and promoting the Arts and creating community in Central New York, helping to support local musicians and artists by giving them opportunities to perform and sell their work in BCA’s inspirational space. Dee also creates all of the event posters used to advertise and promote the events at BCA. www.brewertoncenterforthearts.org
Presently, she lives in central New York where she enjoys life on the river with her family, and her work as an instructor, freelance artist and director of BCA.
