After discovering the world’s most western museum in Wickenburg, AZ, for ArtBeat Magazine Vol. 2 and hyping their Cowgirl Up! women’s only art invitational online [Jan. 2018] we have turned our spotlight on the Governor’s Choice Award winner of this year’s sale and exhibit, Jessica Garrett. With the theme “Art from the Other Half of the West”, 50 renowned female artists competed for this prestigious distinction – as well as a First Place Prize – with Garrett submitting ‘Blinding Beauty’ for her win. She tells ArtBeat that a private collector bought the painting.

“I am always trying to paint what is hard for me to find words for,” confides Garrett. Like mother-nature, some of her paintings “are calm and peaceful, some are like a wild blazing fire.” She seems to effortlessly capture the expansive beauty of iconic western landscapes and flora that look photographic, which she does at times utilize.

Snowcapped mountains soar in the background, flowers beckon, trees and sky form a symphony of color and light. “I feel I see color differently and usually build a painting around a color concept,” Garrett says. “Skies are fun because the possibilities are infinite and so are the feeling each one brings.”

I find that her views of these special places illicit an immediate emotional reaction of patriotism and pride. Garrett herself seems to live the American ideal. “Nothing is better than the freedom to do what you want.” Not one to take her success for granted, Garrett stays humble and happy due to strong family ties, calling it the best thing in her life. Her youth-found talents have been honed for the past dozen years or so starting with a merit scholarship to Scottsdale Artists’ School and workshops with numerous instructors such as Skip Whitcomb and Kevin Macpherson, among others fine art teachers. “I find it hard to be objective about my own work,” she declares.

“I do my best to pursue things that interest and move me with sincerity and hope that it will do the same for other”, she attests.

Look for Jessica in Santa Fe, NM, next month on the 17th at the Indian Market Reception taking place at the Mountain Trails Gallery. Her art also hangs in the Smithklein Gallery, Boulder, CO, and at NanEtte Richardson Fine Art in Garrett’s native San Antonio, TX.

She will also be at the Buffalo Bill Art Show and Sale in Cody, WY, September 20-23 and is represented in town there at Big Horn Galleries.

Follow her on Facebook and Instagram @Jessica.garrett.artist.