Wendy Sue grew up in Southern California drawing the animals and mountains and beaches she loved.
Most of her formal art education was from Indiana University, Bloomington, and University of St. Francis, Ft. Wayne, IN.
While painting and teaching in Tucson in the 80s she studied with watercolorists Tom Hill and Zoltan Szabo. She was juried into the Southern Arizona Water Color Guild and enjoyed showing and selling her work in their events.
The magnificent southwestern landscape held a special place in her heart, but, alas, family and career and life kept her from pursuing painting full-time until retirement.
Involvement in San Diego Watercolor Society and Redlands Art Association provided many opportunities to show and sell her work and learn from other artists. Workshops with watercolorists Tom Lynch and Keiko Tanabe have reignited her passion for watercolor.
Now, surrounded again by the beautiful landscapes and people and wildlife of Arizona she is expressing the joy she feels in her surroundings through her paintings.
She hopes she has communicated that joy to you too.
Growing up amidst the beautiful landscapes of rural New Mexico, I lived in the natural beauty and the rich vibrant culture of the southwest from an early age. The rugged desert vistas, breathtaking sunsets and the captivating stories of the past weren’t just my surroundings, they became an integral part of who I am today. This also is what inspires my oil paintings reflecting not just what I see, but how I feel about the region I hold so dear.
My art is deeply rooted in the southwest spirit, history, and landscapes of the Southwest. Whether it’s a solitary saguaro standing proudly against a dramatic sky, the quiet dignity of an old mission, or the story of miners and settlers carving out their lives in this rugged terrain, I strive to capture more than just the scene. I aim to evoke a sense of place and time creating something that feels alive and deeply resonates with the viewer.
Now living in Arizona, I am surrounded by stunning vistas and cultural richness that continue to fuel my creativity. My goal is simple: to keep telling stories of the Southwest through my paintings, preserving its beauty and heritage while sharing a piece of my journey with those who view my art. This is my passion. Every brushstroke feels like a tribute to the land and its history. It is a heartfelt thank you to the place that has given me so much.
Laura grew up in PA Dutch farm country near the Appalachian trail. One of her favorite places to spend time was Hawk Mountain, a major migration fly way.
As a young adult she developed a love of the outdoors and spent time hiking and canoe tripping in Canada and Maine.
She did not begin painting until she was in her fifties having spent her work life as a social worker and family therapist.
After moving to the southwest, she began taking lessons from local artists as she developed her style with a focus on landscape painting in watercolor and oil.
As an avid hiker, many of her paintings illustrate the places she has hiked including Ireland, Peru, the Grand Canyon and Utah’s Bif 5.
She aspires to share the beauty, vivid color and peacefulness of being in nature within her paintings.
I’ve always been a bit of a creative soul. When I was a kid, I was drawing, imagining, and creating all the time.
As an adult, I decided to take the plunge and enrolled in a fine arts program at a college in Traverse City, Michigan.
I took classes in drawing, design, and pottery. I did really well and loved all my classes, but I realized that becoming
an artist wasn’t going to make me rich, so I decided to switch gears and get a business degree.
After moving to Colorado in the 1990s, the beautiful scenery inspired me to pick up the arts again. I started taking pottery
classes in Boulder and Golden, Colorado. And then, after I retired in Colorado, I started sketching and also started making
landscape quilts. I’ve had a sewing machine all my life, and I have a machine set up along with an art table, so I’m ready to go wherever inspiration takes me. I’m rarely at a loss for something
to do.
Now, I often find myself watching and practicing watercolor and quilting techniques on YouTube. They’re like rabbit holes that I can’t seem to get out of! I really enjoy them.
Since I moved to Wickenburg, I’ve been taking watercolor, acrylic, and oil painting classes. I’ve even been juried into the Wickenburg Art Center for mixed media and have exhibited in a few shows there.
In 2025, I was lucky enough to be exhibiting in the West of Center art show at the Desert Caballero Western Museum for the second year in a row. I entered a landscape quilt and two watercolor paintings. My watercolor of Vulture Mountain was even selected to be on the literature for the show!
I was born in Oklahoma City, moved to Idaho as a child.
Found my way to Wickenburg, Arizona, twenty-one years ago — “snowbird.”
I’m self-taught with a mentor. Pat Hould, an abstract artist, guided me to my path of a figure painter.
I work in mixed media, collage with acrylic glazes. Influenced by southwest colors.
I’m represented at:
Manos Gallery in Tubac, Arizona
Rancho de los Caballeros Spa
Allender Studio
After graduating from the University of Denver and teaching art for six years, I began painting full-time. Working in watercolor and oil, my subjects are the diverse beauty of the western landscape and its wildlife, animals, and the western lifestyle in Wyoming and Arizona.
Major exhibitions have included the Desert Caballeros Western Museum’s Cowgirl Up! exhibition, the American Academy of Equine Art , Women Artists of the West, The Mountain Oyster Club, Cheyenne Western Spirit Art Show, and formerly the C.M. Russell Auction and Quick Draw in Great Falls, MT and the top 100 “Art for the Parks” competition formerly held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Her awards include a second place in two-dimensional work at the 46th Annual Women Artists of the West (WAOW) exhibition at the Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, TX. Other juried exhibitions include the 48th Annual at the Price Tower in Bartlesville, OK, the 49th National Exhibition at Mary Williams Fine Arts Gallery in Boulder, CO. and 51st Annual held at The Museum of Western Art in Kerrville, TX. Her paintings were also juried into the Oil Painter’s of America’s Virtual Western Regional Exhibition at the Illume Gallery of Fine Art, St. George, UT, and the 2021 Western Regional Exhibition of Traditional Oils at the Mark Arts Gallery in Wichita, KS.
Permanent collections in Wyoming include the Governor’s Mansion, Wells Fargo Bank, Central Wyoming College Foundation, Bonneville Transloaders Trucking, Inc., Community Fine Arts Center in Rock Springs, the Dubois Museum and Community Headwaters Center, and many private collections throughout the United States and Europe.
Donating to charitable events are my way of giving back to the community.
Art makes my heart feel good.
My Path was a Masters Degree in Interior Design. For 20 years i designed model homes. I could not always find the appropriate theme or color palette in selecting art for model homes, so i picked up a paintbrush and started painting.
Now that I am retired from the world of design, I continue to receive such satisfaction in painting!
Fun, bright, and graphic are “a few of my favorite things.”
Mixed media is tugging at me right now. It allows one’s imagination to travel and be limitless to possibilities. I hope my art leaves a bright spot in your day!
