Every work I do is allegorical. Every object in a still life is a symbol. Every landscape is a message about life. My family has been in Texas for more than 150 years, small wonder that the big sky, the vast austere beauty of the American West latches on to me. The self-reliance and integrity required to live in such a remote and challenging land has honed my values. It is no wonder that I return to it time and again. I value endurance and respond intensely to the strong light of the southwest. I look at a clump of cactus and see hope, strength, beauty. My work is about looking farther and looking closer to find the enduring beauty of being true. I am drawn to the implacable revelations of the harsh, glorious, and the remote dry earth of home.

I have long been drawn to the natural world whether it be landscape, flora, or fauna. This is where I find not only great outer beauty but genuine inner peace. It is easy to understand why capturing moments in nature has long been my creative focus. When creating my acrylic or watercolor paintings, I strive to strike a powerful balance between technical precision and emotional depth. To this end I am careful to produce balanced and often dynamic compositions while imparting radiant color and light through the careful use of color theory. I am well known for my use of delicate detail as an accent to my finished works.

Lorraine is an artist whose work embodies the light, mood and atmosphere of the moment, which is why she particularly loves plein air painting. She aims for viewers to feel the emotion in her paintings and encourages them to notice the landscape and people around them in a new way. Her style is impressionistic, characterized by bold brushstrokes, dynamic compositions, and a variety of marks. She paints so that her work remains compelling both from a distance and upon close inspection.

I create art because the process is my meditation and my connection with a power greater than myself. When I see the feeling of a joyful childhood, the beauty of the play of light on a rusty Model A, or the drama of red poppies in early spring, translate from my brush to the physical page, I know that there is a benevolent force at work in me and in the world around me.

Unlike the spoken word, where language can leave a listener feeling like an outsider— visual art has no prerequisites to participate. As such, we as artists have the supreme honor of taking a vision and sharing it with our viewers. When we create, we ask ourselves the ultimate question: Why? What is it about a place, a person, a subject that makes us want to share with our viewers. What do we want them to experience? Do we want to dance? Do we want to fight?

Born in Washington state but raised in Montana, Marcia can't remember a time when she wasn't sketching even as a child. Some of her fondest memories were trips to rural Montana or to her grandmother's cabin on the lake. "I often found myself drawn to the  majesty of the early morning and late evening light always surrounding the snowcapped mountains," Ballowe reflects.

 Marcia Ballowe’s creativity flourished with the encouragement of her husband, and family, as she attended multiple workshops with notable national artists: Irving Shapiro, Scott Christensen, John MacDonald, Marc Hanson, Matt Smith, to mention a few. But she felt the biggest impact on her work came through plein air painting where she learned to capture the fleeting light and mood of a place in her art.  Photographs never held the values and hues she could see outdoors. 

Barbara Archer-Baldwin, PSA, MC-IAPS, APAA, PSWC

A Master Medallion holder in the International Association of Pastel Societies, Barbara Archer-Baldwin and her husband John Baldwin relocated to Tucson in February, 2024 after living in Florida for over 25 years. She is an academically schooled professional artist with training at Rhode Island School of Design, Philadelphia University of the Arts, and Temple University's Tyler School of Fine Arts. She has been represented by the Four Corners Gallery in the Tucson Desert Art Museum since May 2024. Her work has been juried into three shows at the Phippen Museum, Prescott, AZ, since her relocation to Arizona. Painting the southwest has really expanded her muse.

I grew up in the heart of the Hiawatha National Forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  The “UP” is surrounded by big water and gorgeous shorelines of the Great Lakes, forested lands, inland lakes and rivers.  It was only natural that I developed a love and fascination of the outdoors from a very young age.  I have wonderful memories of exploring the woods near my home, building forts, and letting my imagination run wild.  When I wasn’t running rampant through the woods, I was drawing.  Being creative was a joy I discovered early on and I loved being able to get my ideas out of my head and share them through drawing. 

Scenes of the American west, Places Stephanie Burk loves, with animals she adores and people she loves. Between two points of home in Texas and her cabin in Colorado, she paints until her heart is full all the landscapes and culture of the area. I