Ocean plant as medium inspires Centennial Hills artist

The ocean always had a way of sending a message of peace and love to local contemporary folk artist Deborah M. Pitts. Almost 20 years ago, the Tulsa, Okla., native was living a life of turmoil and depression. She was a single mother of twins staying at a hotel in Southern California, living paycheck to paycheck.

She visited the ocean often. Her children would run and play while she would breathe in the beauty of the sea. It was there that her artistic journey began its second act.

"I've always considered myself an artist, but something changed after my children were born," said Pitts, now a Centennial Hills resident. "Children are naturally mindful and always live fully in the moment. We would venture through the canyon to Malibu beach and begin collecting seaweed. Fully open to this new experience, I embraced it with great excitement and discovery. It was love at first sight."

The seaweed became a metaphor for life, Pitts said.

When most people think of seaweed, they think of a slimy, green plant that tends to get tangled on one's legs — similar to when life throws "disgusting situations at human beings," she said. So when Pitts saw it, she felt that it was a message from God.

"I saw the seaweed in the shape of hearts," Pitts said. "They were like little valentines. It was like God was speaking to me and saying that everything was going to be OK. He was telling me that he loved me. I began picking up that seaweed like it was diamonds or gold."

She changed her artist name to Ngabre Pitts, a combination of her name and her children's names, Nia and Gabriel.

She said that it seems funny now how everything changed in a blink of an eye.

Her artistic bent originated from her mother, who created fashion designs, while her businessman father provided a comfortable life full of opportunity, wealth and hope.

After her mother died when she was 18, Pitts was given the family house, where she lived with her now ex-husband and son for 33 years.

She continued living a relatively stable life until they divorced in 1996. It was then that she decided to pursue her dream of moving to Southern California and got her first apartment at age 37.

With three associate degrees in liberal arts, graphic design and interior design, she began working in visual merchandising as a display manager at Macy's, while also working part time doing wardrobe in Hollywood.

In the meantime, Pitts was networking and planning an art exhibit with the South African Consulate General in Los Angeles.

Her dream almost became reality, until one day, after a weekend of fun, she realized she had become pregnant with twins. At 41, Pitts had a high-risk pregnancy and was bed-ridden. She lost her job and was eventually evicted from her apartment. Her father died shortly after, and Pitts was left with no financial support.

During the turbulent journey, she lived with friends most of the time. After her twins were born, she found a 30-day refuge at a hotel near Malibu.

"I realized that I grew up spoiled and selfish," Pitts said. "I had everything handed to me, but when my kids were born, I couldn't do anything but take care of them. In a way, they saved me from the fast and crazy life that revolved around L.A."

She used art as a means of escape. While living near the ocean, she would visit the beach with her children, and it was there that she heard the calling from the seaweed.

She began gathering enough seaweed to fill the trunk of her car with the help of a local artist and lifeguard named Norton Wisdom.

As a single parent of twins, Pitts admits that it was her art that kept her sane from the hardships of motherhood, and it was her art that brought her closer with her children.

"My kids were just purity, creativity and love," Pitts said. "They were my muses. I was everything to them, and they became everything to me."

They were nomads living from uncertainty to uncertainty, but one thing was always certain: They had each other.

"Art was the way we got through things," Pitts said.

"My mother always showed us love," added her son, Gabriel, 16. "I remember always being at the beach and having fun. We used to paint a lot. I never knew we were going through a tough time."

Eventually, Pitts got a job at Brooks College in Long Beach, Calif., teaching visual merchandising. She got an apartment in Long Beach, and despite living in an area that looked like it was "straight out of the hood," she said, things were finally going well.

Then, the "Seapeople" were born: By combining traditional African and Native American art and sculptures, Pitts created her beings from seaweed, seashells and other ocean relics. Her Las Vegas exhibit, "Seapeople...Voices from the Deep," resulted.

"The Seapeople are peaceful and reclusive beings who have been in existence ever since the planet was covered in water," Pitts said. "They exist to monitor the planet. They are like our timekeepers of our world. Their purpose is to pray for peace."

Pitts' Seapeople were inspired by the imagination of children.

When her twins were children, Pitts was engulfed in the world of imagination and innocence.

"The thing about children is that they are so pure," Pitts said. "They're a blank canvas, and they have this amazing curiosity and love creativity. I got completely absorbed into their world."

She said she loves using seaweed because it's a tangible material that can be dried, sculpted or painted, and it can go back to its natural state with water.

Her work has evolved to become a series of mixed media installations that document current affairs dating to 9/11. She was chosen as a J. Paul Getty Multicultural intern, serving with nonprofit Art & Services for Disabled Inc., as an undergraduate studying African and oceanic art at California State University, Northridge.

She moved to Las Vegas in 2007 and eventually settled in the northwest.

"Some people think (the Seapeople are) real; (some) they're not. It's a folk tale," Pitts said. "Now that I'm in Las Vegas, I've felt that the city has really influenced my art. There's so much color in the Strip, so my art is really colorful."

Her work was recently shown at the West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 W. Lake Mead Blvd.

"She is a very unique and abstract artist," said Lisa Russell, cultural specialist at the center. "Her vision and the creation of her sculptures with the natural organic sea material open the imagination of all the people who view. I personally think it does really well with children. They seem more intrigued with it than adults because they have a wider imagination. When you're an adult, you kind of step away from that."

Pitts hopes to open an art studio near downtown Las Vegas for families with children to enjoy and learn about art.

"Seeing the seaweed as a metaphor as to how it's basically trash from the sea that no one likes to even look at, and seeing that there are many human beings — and disgusting situations that they find themselves in — that we don't like to look at either," Pitts said. "This art made with seaweed is alive with the energy of the seas. It's a living being that lies dormant and then awakens when it is put back in its natural habitat of water. The seaweed was our adventure and imagination. This new art form is constantly changing and revealing itself and its personality to me."

To see more of Pitts' work, visit facebook.com/seapeople.

— To reach North View reporter Sandy Lopez, email slopez@viewnews.com or call 702-383-4686. Find her on Twitter: @JournalismSandy