Devorah Brinkerhoff
Devorah Hake Brinckerhoff is a Portland, Oregon-based mixed-media artist (RISD-trained, 30+ years) and creator of Soul Portraits, a healing art practice using personal artifacts like letters and photos.
2
APPEARANCES
2
PODCASTS
Sep 27, 2026
Devorah BrinckerhoffGUEST
When I look back over my career as an artist and as a young person, I was always using what was around me.
Devorah BrinckerhoffGUEST
So pine needles, flowers, pressed flowers, uh, dirt and adding it into my drawings.
Devorah BrinckerhoffGUEST
And later on in college, I repeated patterns, repeated images, followed my own curiosity and my intuition while I made things.
Devorah BrinckerhoffGUEST
And later in my own life, when the shit hit the fan, I returned to mixed media as a way to tell my story without using words.
7 MINS LATER
Vanessa SoulHOST
But there, you know, as evolution is always happening, there's always a new perspective to try out and engage with.
Devorah BrinckerhoffGUEST
I think that grief can swallow us whole, right? And at times it 100% swallowed me whole.
Devorah BrinckerhoffGUEST
And in those moments, there is no light, right? Like there is, there's no, I think there's movement, but we can't detect it just because we're in the dark and we're confused and we're miserable.
Devorah BrinckerhoffGUEST
You can feel like there isn't a step you can take that will have any alleviation for for the feelings.
28 MINS LATER
Vanessa SoulHOST
You know, how do you help someone navigate or how do you, you know, just kind of work with them in a sense?