“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. 

My lifelong passion for horses has been inspiration for much of my work.  They represent all that is beautiful, honest and noble communicating without words as if they can see into your soul.  Each painting begins with a clear idea and direction.  As the work develops I allow myself the freedom to let it evolve organically desiring to capture the essence of the subject without painting every detail.  I incorporate design principles but give myself permission to break the rules if I feel it will create a better painting.  Exploring various color combinations, techniques and textures are as important to my creative process as the finished painting.

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, 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.

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.

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.

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 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

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 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.

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.

A native of  North Dakota  Karen grew up where the prairies with there wild open spaces and clean blue skies

 developed her love of the undeveloped landscape.

It was enhanced with a move to Arizona and then New Mexico with there magical red vistas. Life then took her to Coastal California where she also fell in love with painting the water. 

Karen had the need to create from and early age and has worked in many mediums including ceramics, china painting, water color ,pastels and oilseed acrylics. 

She lives in Carpinteria California  and is continually amazed at the beauty of a beach side atmospheric view.

“My love for oil painting incorporates my love for color, light, landscape, and the oil paints themselves. Each painting is an original composition of unique western vistas, places I have been to, and return to, again and again." Susan Slomski Fine Art

Karen has been a professional artist for over 35 years having studied under master instructors in college.  Karen’s love and ability to convey the emotion of her western and wildlife paintings has earned her artistic awards and regional acclaim

As a distinguished wildlife and western painter whose artistic repertoire includes oils, pastels, inks, and mixed media. Through her art, she strives to capture the essence of nature, creating a reflection of her personal vision—a vision that is deeply inspired by the serene yet raw landscapes and the majestic creatures that inhabit them. Her works explore the symbiotic relationship between the natural world and the rugged spirit of the American West, inviting viewers to share in her appreciation of nature's beauty.

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Valeria Yost is passionate about her artwork. She has created works of art since she could hold a pencil. She believes she was given a gift from her creator, and she loves sharing it. Her love of horses, then and now, are still favorites. She also loves to paint the wildlife that surrounds her Idaho home. In the last few years, she has punched up the color and added Native American themes and abstract design combining them into new exciting paintings. Her love of nature shines through in all of her paintings.

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“I strive to preserve the beauty in nature through my work. It is something of an act of preservation and in a way an act of rebellion to bring to the viewers attention the beauty of our endangered natural world.”

A “values” painter, Tara loves attuning to shadow and highlight, noticing the way a color changes as it moves into shadow or light, and reflects colors from it’s surroundings. 

My art journey began as a child and has been a constant throughout my life. Although I received my BFA in College, I did not start my full-time career as an artist until later in life as my earlier career was in the corporate world. I am now focusing on my new path as a portrait artist that specializes in equine and canine art.

Born in Lubbock, Texas, Jody is the daughter of the late Conny Martin, artist, and C.B. Martin, builder, photographer, and watercolorist. Always passionate about art, Jody never doubted that she would become an artist. She earned her degree in art from Abilene Christian University, and went on to study painting under Hall of Fame artists, Daniel Greene and Emily Guthrie Smith. She values most the education she received from her mother, Conny Martin. Under Conny's tutelage she learned classical drawing and contemporary design. 

The western artist, Susie Varner says as a child with ADD it was difficult to be still, but put a pencil in her hand and she could sit for hours! Some might even say Susie was born with a pencil in her hand, for as long as she can remember she longed for a horse, drawing them was the next best thing. Born in Chickasha, Oklahoma; #7 out of ten children in a two bedroom house, it was often chaotic and a spot in a corner with scrap paper and a pencil gave her solace.  Susie says there was so much love in that little house, it taught her to seek God given talents and she feels blessed to have found her gift. Much of her inspiration comes from living in the country and owning horses. As a child, she copied art from western artists, Charles Russell and Frederic Remington and feels that is where her love for western art comes from. 

BIO – Born in a small Kansas town, Shanelle Deater discovered her love of art early in her father’s paintbox. The paints, powders, and mediums were too fascinating to pass up. Shanelle Deater is now an accomplished, classically trained artist, a member of Oil Painters of America, Plein Air Artists Colorado, the Guild of Nature and Science Illustrators, the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists. Ms. Deater paints landscapes, still lifes, portraits, and botanical subjects. She enjoys the challenge of painting in a traditional manner for its high level of precision, standards and subtlety.

Diane Burchette-Gomez is a graduate of Parsons’ School of Design for Illustration and Eugene Lang College for Social Psychology. After college she worked for her family’s Gourmet Food and Gift company, Aunt Sally’s Praline Shops, in New Orleans, Louisiana; meanwhile, creating art for herself.

38 years of life experiences led Diane to oil painting. “The feel of my brush gliding across a taut canvas, like it was ice skating, is intoxicating.” She became obsessed and quit her retail job to paint full time.