Deborah Finn Romero

Inner vision. Painting is the most amazing and beautiful way to express what we do not yet "see" in our physical world. It is our window and door to a place we all know exists but struggle to grasp in the day-to-day life of our modern civilization. Great art "speaks" to us and inspires us because there is truth in it. We may not always understand it or comprehend it, but it is true nonetheless.

1977, is the year when Deborah first remembers her introduction to metaphysics by a family friend, who taught her how to read tarot with regular playing cards. She was 5 years old. Yoga, tarot and meditation were commonplace in their home. At age nine she would stare at a glass window for what seemed like hours, imagining the most wondrous things. Years later, she learned this was called scrying (looking in a magic mirror).

In the late 1980's Deborah formally studied and was initiated into a Hermetic qabalalistic spiritual school that included in depth work with Jewish and Christian mysteries, chakras, and other spiritual disciplines. Her own studies and meditation practice is of great importance to her.

In 1996 Deborah began painting, under the guidance of her husband, sculptor Johnny Finn-Romero. He assisted her in finding ways to capture on a two-dimensional surface what she perceived in multidimensional space. Inspired by Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Alex Grey, and Leonardo Da Vinci, Deborah studied their individual ways of expression and technique. Her own style is developed out of a communication of matter and spirit, focusing on the mood of each piece as its own living and breathing entity connected by light and shadow.

In 1998, Deborah had her first conscious vision of a corpse. It was her father. She knew he was dying and had been caring for him previously. He had been dead for 4 days, without embalming, in the freezer of a funeral home. His jaw dropped, his eyes were shriveled like raisins, his hands were curled and knarled. Deborah took one look at him and realized "he's not in there anymore!” and became elated. The vessel that carried him for so long no longer could support him. The awareness of the direct relationship between matter and spirit hit her acutely.

In 1999, Deborah became a Reiki Master and began working with hospice patients. In 2001, she completed the Consciousness Studies program at Rudolf Steiner College in Fair Oaks, California. In 2003, she completed her registered nursing degree and began working with heart patients. She is currently enrolled in the Master Herbalist program at the School of Natural Healing in Utah.

Deborah spends one to two days a week working with cardiac patients. The rest of her time is devoted to painting and healing research. She currently lives in Northern California, USA with her husband Johnny, their two children Rachel and Joshua, and Mystik - the dog.