Ms. Durkee is an award-winning portrait artist with more than 35 years of commissioned work behind her. Her lifelong commitment to art is evident in every piece she creates. She sees portraiture as a chance to reveal the unique character of each person, creating work meant to be appreciated for generations. For Ms. Durkee, every commission is an honor that calls for care, sensitivity, and the highest level of craftsmanship.

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Largely self-trained, Ms. Durkee has painted since childhood. Her determination, paired with dedicated study of the Old Masters such as Velazquez and John Singer Sargent, has shaped the distinctive style and success she enjoys today.

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The artist works from her spacious West Redding, Connecticut studio, The Lobster Pot, a name given by Mark Twain when he owned the property at the turn of the century. A true New Englander, she descends from some of America’s earliest settlers of the 1600s and is related to the noted deaf folk artist John Brewster, whose mother was Mary Durkee.

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Ms. Durkee graduated from Greens Farms Academy, completed a year at the School of Fine Arts at Boston University, and earned her Bachelor of Arts from the University of Vermont.

SELECTED COLLECTIONS & COMMISSIONS

 

Baylor University Medical Hospital, Texas

Bouvier Insurance, Farmington, Connecticut

Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Mother House Rome, Italy

Cancer Research Institute, New York, NY

Capital, State of Connecticut

Capital, State of South Dakota

Choate Rosemary Hall, Wallingford, Connecticut

Christ Episcopal Church, Redding, Connecticut
Netflix “The Diplomat”

Easton Press

Emma Willard, Head, Emma Willard School, Troy, NY

Grace Church, New York, NY

Greens Farms Academy, Southport, Connecticut

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Leffingwell House Museum, Norwich, CT

Malcolm Baldrige School of Business, Post University

Mark Twain House, Hartford, Connecticut

Mark Twain Library, Redding, Connecticut

Morristown-Beard School, Morristown, NJ

Ms. Foundation, New York, NY

National Library of Medicine, Washington, DC

New Hampshire Supreme Court, Concord, NH

New Pond Farm Education Center, Redding. Connecticut

Pro Football Hall of Fame, Canton Ohio

Southern Methodist University, Texas

Standard Oil of Connecticut, Bridgeport, Connecticut

The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp

The Hotchkiss School, Lakeville, Connecticut

The Lucille Lortel Foundation, New York, NY

The Players Club, New York, NY

The Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, Connecticut

Ulbrich Stainless Steels & Special Metals, New Haven, CT

UST Inc. Stamford, Connecticut

Vesco Inc. Redding, Connecticut

Webster Bank, Waterbury, Connecticut

Wellesley College, Wellesley, Massachusetts

Westley Wolcott Inc, New York

Westminster School, Simsbury, CT

Westport Public Library, Westport, Connecticut

 

Numerous private commissions