The bears, deer, and other creatures in Deedee Cheriel's paintings aren't chosen lightly. Her work is concerned with the interaction of the natural world and human emotion, and by painting animals she hopes to show emotions like fear and happiness taking non-human form. Although she now lives and works in urban Los Angeles, she cites childhood camping trips with her mom in a Volkswagen bus as the beginning of her fascination with the natural world. Cheriel's earliest experience as a working artist actually came a few years after those camping trips when she painted album covers and T-shirts for her teenage band and record label.
