About the Artists

Debbie Overs (Zebra)

My name is Debbie Overs. I was born in England and came to the U. S. when I was 2 years old. My father was in the military so we lived several places. I was in Korea from 1963 until 1966. At that point we moved to Austin and I have been here ever since.

Several years ago I was staying outside the old Austin Resource Center for the Homeless in my big four door Buick along with Stacy in her Jeep. Girls weren’t allowed to stay in the ARCH so we stayed in our cars. I heard about the art class and started attending. I fell in love with John in art class. I have been in the program for at least 5 years.

One of my favorite things about art class is that we all share our ideas and are supportive of each other’s art. I’ve brought a lot of people into Art From the Streets.

Most of my work is done in acrylic paint. I paint monkeys in clouds and this year I am painting Robots, Giraffes, Rhinos and Zebras. I have loved Zebras since I was 12 years old. My nickname is Zebra. Living outside inspires my work. I think a lot of children like my work. I studied Chinese astrology a long time. I am a fire monkey.

When I was growing up and in Austin, my mother owned The Book Stalls bookstores. This was in the 70’s. I would get all the broken books. I loved to cut and glue stuff. I did a lot of decoupage. Last year I painted the Queen of Sheba. That image came from an old magazine that I still had from those days. It was from a photo of a 1920’s actress dressed like the Queen of Sheba.

I never thought I would paint. John inspires me. We talk about art class a lot and when I feel like quitting, he inspires me to go on. We do this for each other.