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.

Kathy LeJeune • Louisiana • waow

Kathy LeJeune is a self-taught artist who works in pastel, graphite and charcoal.  Her drawings reflect the important role horses played in her early life — if she wasn’t riding them, she was drawing them.  She spent wonderful childhood days riding at local playdays and along country roads or in pastures.  Raising a family and teaching in Louisiana schools necessitated a break from drawing, but she found comfort and joy when she picked up her pencils again during the Covid pandemic.  She has not put them down since.  Her artistic output includes sympathetic drawings of horses and their pivotal role in western life and rodeo competitions.  Cowboys and cows get some gritty starring roles, too. 

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Jennifer Wendt • Kansas • waow

Jennifer Wendt paints what she knows best—the animals and nature she enjoys every day operating her own small ranch.  Cattle, horses, dogs, barn cats and wildlife are favorite subjects for this self–taught artist.  She works from her home studio.  She can otherwise be found outdoors riding one of her horses, tending cattle, checking fences, choring, or doing any of the other myriad tasks around the ranch.  Wendt’s observant mind drinks in the surrounding inspiration and translates that into paintings that are exhibited in many of the top shows and exhibitions in the United States.  She has garnered many awards, including several "Best of Shows", "Artist's Choices", and "People's Choices" along the way.

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Barby Schacher • Washington • waow

Barby Schacher is a Western Fine Artist whose work is deeply rooted in the traditions of ranch life, horses, and the rugged spirit of the American West.  She was raised in a world where horseback riding, rodeos, and cattle drives shaped her experiences.  She channels these influences into her original, detailed, pastel paintings of Western life that are both authentic and heartfelt.  These artworks tell the timeless stories of everyday ranch life, celebrating both its beauty and grit.

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Roberta Barnes • Nebraska • waow

Roberta Barnes, a native of Nebraska, lives with her husband on a ranch next to the Nebraska National Forest. The artist shares her love of the landscape through her works in oils.  She finds an endless source of inspiration in the landscapes, not only in her “roots” from the Columbus area but also in the Sandhills region of Nebraska.  Her work is a part of both public and private collections.

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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."

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Suzie Varner • Texas • waow

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. 

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