Julie Gowing Hayes creates oil and watercolor paintings of things and scenes found mostly in nature in a representational style sometimes with hints of impressionism. Growing up on a farm in Southwest Iowa was instrumental in her development of a deep-rooted love for the outdoors. Her father’s involvement in local conservation efforts through tree planting, watershed developments and improved farming techniques along with her mother’s love of gardening and bird feeding and watching taught Hayes a respect for the land and the wildlife it supports. Julie was introduced to plein air painting while working on her Studio Art degree at Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC

I don’t know which I loved more as a child, my art supplies, or my stick horses. I blame television’s Roy Rogers and Trigger for the horse obsession. Over time, I gradually began drawing realistic horses, and got more and more infatuated with the pencils. While I still love the challenge of manipulating graphite between whispers of gray and the blackest of blacks, I have a fascination with new media and drawing surfaces. Cheryl Harley Volz

Donna Merchant-Crooks has a kinship with nature, where she finds solace and inspiration. She spent years cooking and pulling mule strings in Idaho’s wilderness, developing an appreciation for the rare and untouched.