Abbey’s figurative work reveals her study of anatomy and lifelong experience of drawing from the model. She created portraits and imaginative figures in landscapes using oil paint, oil pastel, ink, graphite, and charcoal.
Abbey was asked the question: As an artist, even a very young artist, fourteen years of age, did the human body ever intimidate you?…
Drawing the human body, drawing its geological forms. I saw it as a part of nature to develop my visual perception and understanding of space, form, and color.
– Rita Deanin Abbey
When I moved west, I became very involved with the desert and was influenced by geology and the landscape -from large-scale vistas to small-scale fragments, plant growth, and wildlife. It was all-encompassing for me, and it still is. And now, I’m doing work that combines animal form with human anatomy and geological forms.