As an artist, DeAnn Meely is driven by a deep, intrinsic need to express her emotions and share personal experiences through her work. For her, creating art is more than a spiritual or intellectual pursuit—it is an emotional journey that brings both joy and fulfillment.

Raised in the South, DeAnn’s artistic roots trace back to childhood curiosity and a reverence for nature. Years spent traveling the country as a journalist and Army wife deepened her connection to the land and sharpened her observational eye. Her wildlife connection is also influenced by her Native American heritage on her father’s side—a quiet, ancestral pull toward the natural world.

DeAnn’s paintings are grounded in firsthand experience – whether hiking mountainous landscapes or quietly observing animals in the wild. She relies on her own encounters and photography to inform her work traveling with her zoom lens – “Big Bertha” – at the ready.  DeAnn relishes capturing intimate wildlife moments and spectacular landscape views to serve as reference for future studio paintings. This personal fieldwork adds an emotional layer to her work, making each painting a reflection of genuine observation.

Her plein air and studio paintings are marked by dramatic lighting, lost and found edges, and a strong contrast of temperature and value. Influenced by masters like Carl Rungius, Robert Bateman, Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, and John Singer Sargent, DeAnn strives to capture the grandeur of nature, the play of light, and the spiritual presence of wildlife.

Although primarily self-taught, DeAnn has spent over 30 years refining her skills through workshops, mentorships, and continued study. She is a Mastrius Emerging Artist mentee and an active member of the Art Business Academy and the Wedding Painters Bluebook. She has attended events such as Plein Air Convention and Expo (PACE) and Plein Air South (PAS).

DeAnn has been juried into numerous exhibitions, including the National Oil and Acrylic Painting Society (NOAPS) Associate Member Online Exhibition (2023–2025) and the River Clay Fine Arts Festival in Alabama (2015, 2019, 2022, 2025). Her professional affiliations include NOAPS, AWA (American Women Artists),  AIS (American Impressionist Society), and Huntsville Museum of Art.

She owns and operates DeAnn’s Art Studio and Gallery in Decatur, Alabama, where she also serves as lead instructor for workshops and youth classes. A cornerstone of the local arts community, DeAnn actively engages with collectors, students, and fellow artists. Her solo exhibition at Huntsville International Airport in 2025 was viewed by thousands of travelers, and her plein air paintings have sold straight from the easel—even before judging. Her presence in the Southeast plein air scene continues to grow with acceptances to the 2025 Dauphin Island Plein Air, the Abingdon Plein Air Festival, and more. Her work is also represented online by Xanadu Gallery in Scottsdale, Arizona, in addition to her presence in juried exhibitions and regional galleries.

Collectors across the country are emotionally drawn to DeAnn’s work. Viewers describe feeling as if they are standing in the painted scene: spotting a juvenile eagle veiled in mist or watching a mother bear gently press her cub close along a remote Alaskan shoreline. DeAnn’s goal is more than to simply render beauty, she seeks to reveal the spirit within. Whether capturing a quiet tree line at dawn or the tender bond between a mother bear and cub, DeAnn’s work invites viewers to pause, reflect, and connect with the wild.

I paint to connect—visually, emotionally, and spiritually—with the animals and landscapes I encounter in the wild. My work is rooted in observation: long hikes, quiet waits, sudden sightings. These aren’t imagined scenes. They’re moments I’ve lived, captured through my lens, and translated to canvas with reverence and care.

Raised in the South, I’ve carried a lifelong curiosity about nature. That connection deepened through years spent moving across the country as a journalist and Army wife. Every place held a new view, a new species, a new stillness. My Native American heritage on my father’s side only strengthened this pull—what some might call instinct, I’ve come to recognize as kinship.

I work primarily in acrylics, both en plein air and in the studio. The medium suits my approach: direct, adaptable, layered. Whether I’m capturing the low light raking across a riverbank or the protective gesture of a mother bear shielding her cub, I’m looking for something more than form—I’m chasing presence.

My process starts in the field, usually with “Big Bertha,” my telephoto lens and camera. From there, I paint what I’ve seen, but also what I’ve felt. Each brushstroke is an echo of the original experience—filtered through memory, emotion, and technique.

Influences like Carl Rungius, Robert Bateman, and Thomas Moran taught me to balance discipline with awe. My goal isn’t just to render beauty—it’s to offer a moment of stillness, a pause, where viewer and subject can meet in silence.

That’s the power of painting: it holds attention in a world built to distract. If someone stops and truly sees what I’ve seen—a glint in the eye of an eagle, the hush of morning fog lifting over the treetops—then I’ve done my job.