WAOW Artistry of the West
The WAOW Artistry is slowly being built to provide a page on our site to promote each artist. This project began late summer 2024. We have over 300 members to load here on their pages. You can search by name, location or by subject matter to find an artist.
Priya Ahlawat . Pennsylvania . waow
Priya was born in India and currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has lived and studied in the United States, Asia and Europe and holds multiple degrees in Dentistry and Orthodontics from renowned American and international Universities. Priya has studied with many carefully selected internationally and nationally acclaimed artists including Shane Wolf and Daud Akhriev. Her quest for knowledge, love of reading and extensive travels through Europe, North America, Central America and Asia since a young age provide a well-grounded foundation from which her artworks are inspired and created.
Ran Wu . California . waow
Ran was born in Taiwan. At a young age Ran showed an interest in the arts, so her parents sent her to study drawing, watercolor, and Chinese brush painting. As Ran grew into a young adult, she moved to the United States and eventually settled in Northern California. After putting her art on hold to build a career for herself and her family in the corporate world, Ran found the opportunity to return to her previous passion of painting and pursued becoming a fine artist.
Sue Granskie . New Jersey . waow
I was born and raised in New Jersey. Even though I was brought up in a small New Jersey town, I have always been a lover of all art forms of the west. As a child, and the daughter of an artist, I could always be found creating art throughout my childhood. I felt destined to become an artist, and it has been my privilege to work in the arts during my lifetime.
Rhonda Morfin . Nevada . waow
Rhonda is a charcoal artist whose wild heart is rooted in the sweeping solitude of Nevada’s Great Basin. Born and raised in Elko, she’s shaped by rugged terrain, long drives, and the fierce independence of desert life. Her art draws deeply from the region’s raw beauty and the visceral grace of horses, a connection sparked in childhood when pencils first met hoofbeats.
Carla Stroh . Wyoming . waow
She's the Annie Oakley to his Buffalo Bill!
Carla and her husband live totally off the grid on their cattle ranch in Wyoming. A seasoned cowgirl, Carla transitions easily from horse trainer to renowned western artist. There is music in her soul, family in her heart and her next big adventure on her mind. She prefers to see the world from the back of her treasured Arabian, Spook.
Cathy Barnes . Wyoming . waow
For as long as I can remember, I have been in love with the West. The inhabitants—both human and animal—have intrigued and delighted me as much as the vastness and wonder of the scenery. I am continually drawn by some deep connection I have yet to understand. Cathy Barnes
Ally Morgan . Maryland . waow
Ally Morgan’s work is inspired by her reverence for the natural world and humanity’s complex relationship with it. With an emphasis on the female perspective, she explores the intersection of humanity, animality and spirituality.
Sherrie Nielsen . California . waow
Sherrie Nielsen is a figurative artist creating oil paintings and drawings of fauna, flora, cosmos and humanity, working in California. Her favorite mediums are oil, charcoal and colored pencil. Her art works have been juried into international and regional shows, received recognition and awards; and have been published as illustration in a major university academic journal and book cover design.
Terri Wagner . Oklahoma . waow
Terri Wagner is an award-winning artist living on a small farm in Kiefer, Oklahoma. At four years old she was drawing horses, seeing the world through an artist's eye. Her love of horses, animals and the outdoors inspires her to paint, responding to the amazing world around her. "I like to paint realism, but strive to keep it loose with bold brushstrokes and vibrant colors."
Kelly Sooter . Utah . waow
Many say that Kelly Sooter’s paintings are peaceful - depicting calm in the midst of a storm, or show where wild mountains or wilderness meets with the more tamed prairie or farmland. When viewing her landscapes, she hopes you begin to recall landscapes from your past that have been buried deep down for too many years – still waiting to come to the surface.
Pam Tullos . Texas . waow
“I am a contemporary Texas artist. My professional career began with decorative painting and murals in residential homes. After many years of climbing ladders and scaffolding, I eventually transitioned to an easel and canvas. “
Leah Wiedemer . Florida . waow
Every artist will tell you that they have loved to draw from the time they could hold a crayon. I’m no different. Every artist will tell you that they have loved to draw from the time they could hold a crayon. I’m no different.
I remember when my cousin, a couple of years my junior, won an art award in his elementary school. It was then that I decided a real artist was some sort of phenom. Not something I was born to. It didn’t stop me from drawing, but it did make me think a career in art was not something in my future. …
Debbie Pounders . Florida . waow
Debbie Pounders, a self taught artist from Tennessee, transforms her visions into immersive works of art that captivate viewers and collectors with their realism and innovation. Each piece begins with her unique process of mentally capturing the subject through her photography and painting in her mind before she even approaches the canvas.
Rosie Penning . California . waow
Welcome to the world of art through my eyes. I'm Rosie Penning, a passionate artist with a knack for capturing the unique personalities of pets, the warmth of human relationships, and the delicate elegance of still life paintings.
Virginia Kamhi . California.waow
Much as a poet uses words to express spirit, emotion, and beauty of thought, pastel artist Virginia Kamhi paints painterly realistic paintings that convey the poetry, imaginative power, and rhythms of the natural wonders that surround her.
Elizabeth Ming Cooper. New Mexico.waow
Daily, Beth finds a dozen potential paintings in her visual world, which is a great blessing. The art of seeing and helping others to see and grasp the beauty of life’s small fleeting moments is the desire for her art work.
Whether it is sunlight glowing through a flower petal, golden backlight on a child at play or the soft glow of evening light coming through the trees on a mesa or mountain top, these captured moments and slices of life are the whispers of a higher power and what makes up life itself. Through painting she hopes to evoke a memory or a feeling to the viewer and share the emotion of a slice of time.
Bets Cole. Oregon . waow
Bets Cole sells and shows her artwork nationwide. Working primarily in the plein air tradition, she paints outside in the landscape with immediacy and openness. She welcomes the challenge of exploring and painting unfamiliar places. Her choice of medium – whether acrylic, watercolor, gouache or charcoal – is dictated by the subject matter, colors, and quality of light specific to each location.
Sandy Applegate. Arizona . waow
Sandy Applegate
Sandy’s artwork deals with shape, color and ideas, definitely with her own version of reality. She works primarily in acrylic or watercolor with pen with ink. Another medium is oil-based ink in which she creates Monoprints on paper or canvas, a method learned from Shy Rabbit’s Michael Coffee – his reductive-ink process. She often incorporates mixed media to create unusual effects. She likes to have several series of different subject matter in the works at one time. This helps to keep her images and ideas fresh and lively.
Ozlem Yeni. Arizona . waow
Ozlem Aliyazicioglu Yeni
Ozlem Yeni, a visual artist and gallery owner with over 25 years of diverse professional experience in the art world, has gained worldwide recognition. Her artistic pursuits have spanned multiple horizons, including solo and group exhibitions across Turkey, Japan, Australia, and Albania.
Gina Stonecircle. Montana . waow
From Custom Hardware and Home fittings to unique Metal Art and Mixed Media sculpture, everything from Twisted Tree Forge is Crafted with Design and Quality in mind, here under the Big Sky of Montana.
Growing up in Montana, steeped in the history of the West, Gina developed a deep appreciation for the art that depicted the rich culture of this part of the the world. Gina melds natural elements with modern mediums to create unique, one of a kind pieces that reflect the way of life in Montana and living on the land. Gina works primarily in wood, stone, and epoxy resin, and she collaborates with her partner, a master blacksmith who adds metalwork to many of their pieces.