DeAnn Meely is a wildlife and landscape artist 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 are grounded in childhood curiosity, a reverence for nature, and the landscapes, waterways, changing light, and wildlife of the region. Years spent traveling the country as a journalist and Army wife broadened her connection to the land and sharpened her observational eye. Her connection to wildlife 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—from the riverbanks, wetlands, and rural roads of the South to mountainous landscapes and wildlife encountered across the country. 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.

Working in oil and acrylic, 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 the natural world.

Although primarily self-taught, DeAnn has spent over 30 years refining her skills through workshops, mentorships, and continued study. Her current advanced study includes Mark McKenna’s Animal Painting Mentorship Group. She is also an active member of the Art Business Academy and has attended events such as Plein Air Convention and Expo (PACE) and Plein Air South (PAS).

DeAnn owns and operates DeAnn’s Art Studio and Gallery in Decatur, Alabama, where she is a central part of the local arts community and connects directly with collectors both locally and across the country. Viewers of DeAnn’s work frequently 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 along the river’s edge 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.

Artist Statement:

I paint to connect—visually, emotionally, and spiritually—with the wildlife and landscapes I encounter, from Southern waterways and rural roads to high mountain country and remote shorelines. My work begins long before the brush touches canvas: in the predawn cold, on a quiet shoreline, along a mountain trail, or in the steady wait for an animal to appear. These aren’t imagined scenes. They are lived moments, and painting them is my way of honoring them.

Raised in the South and shaped by years of travel as a journalist and Army wife, I have carried a lifelong curiosity about the natural world. Moving across the country broadened that connection, while the landscapes, changing light, waterways, and wildlife of the South remain deeply rooted in how I see.

Working in oil and acrylic, I paint from my own field observations and photography. I am drawn to quiet narrative moments—the protective gesture of a mother bear, a bird standing nearly lost in morning mist, or light moving across a riverbank. What interests me is not simply the subject itself, but the sense of presence within it.

Influences such as Carl Rungius, Robert Bateman, Thomas Moran, Albert Bierstadt, and John Singer Sargent have shaped my pursuit of structure, atmosphere, light, and restraint. My goal is not merely to render beauty, but to create a moment in which the viewer pauses and feels something of what I experienced in the field.

If someone stands before one of my paintings and feels that moment of stillness and connection, then the work has done its job.

Gallery Representation

Xanadu Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ Online Representation

DeAnn’s Art Studio & Gallery, Decatur, AL - Owner/Gallerist

Selected Accolades & Recognition

National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society (NOAPS) Associate Member Online Exhibition — 2023–2026

Flourish Fine Art Gallery, Something’s Afoot — 2026, three works selected

River Clay Fine Arts Festival — Juried Artist, 2015, 2019, 2022, 2025

Abingdon Plein Air Festival — Selected Artist, 2025, 2026

Dauphin Island Plein Air — Juried Artist, 2025

Huntsville International Airport Solo Exhibition — 2025

Featured by Jason Horejs on RedDotBlog — 2025

Professional Memberships

Oil Painters of America (OPA)
National Oil & Acrylic Painters’ Society (NOAPS)
American Women Artists (AWA)
American Impressionist Society (AIS)