Welcome to Polly, Paint and Pencil Studio
I created this space to share my work with you, as pencils and paintbrushes are the means by which I record my experiences. I share my interpretation of the human condition in response to interactions with companion animals, and those wild ones provided by the nature of the western landscape.
From my home and studio in Northern Wyoming, I am an artist surrounded by the beauty of the Bighorn Mountains...
And Sheridan is a town full of people and history bound to horses-- it is a place that inspires me to deepen the bond I share with my sketchbooks and canvases. Immortalizing the human-animal relationships that I encounter continues to motivate my time at the easel. Most often, my work exhibits images of those relationships I have witnessed in this beautiful part of the country.
I first moved to Sheridan in 2012 to work on Eatons' Ranch, the oldest dude ranch in the country, and a family-run establishment in its fifth generation. I fell in love with the culture, the company, and the landscape around me. My observations-- Dogs in the back of every pickup, corrals full of working horses, vast pastures hiding cattle among every ridge and draw. I have witnessed the devotion of cowboy codes--of men promised to their livestock that so depend on them. Inspired by those images, I find their reflection in my work.
Over the years a number of artists have come to be among the stars, in my eyes. Those of the past include N.C. Wyeth, Winslow Homer, Hans Kleiber, Ed Borein, Charley Russell, and George A. Weymouth. More recent influences of mine include Rygh Westby, Roger Brunk, Amy Ringholz, Mark Maggiori, Teal Blake, Peggy Judy, T. Allen Lawson, Bob Coronato, Michael Blessing, and Joel Ostlind—among so many others.
Aesthetic sensibility naturally drives my creative heart toward avenues of design, decorating, and visual art, but I also love everything about researching fine artwork. The Social Media Era of today provides endless insight into the studios of my peers and heroes, intothe libraries of fellow researchers, into the galleries and homes of collectors that sustain and support the artist's existence. Not to mention, realtime perspectives of perpetually changing movements, daily reminders of art history we ought not forget, and theories describing it all.
It is an exciting time to be alive and in love with art.
I graduated in December 2014 from North Carolina State University with a Bachelors Degree in Spanish. As a Virginia transplant, I moved to Sheridan to pursue a life that would allow me to be horseback as well as creative. Immersed in the West, I have made a living handling and training horses, giving riding lessons, helping neighbors and friends with their cattle, all the while remaining dedicated to the progress of my artwork.
By my side, you're sure to find my sweet Kelpie dog, Tiller. She is chiefly-appointed studio hound of Polly, Paint and Pencil Studio. She is also my faithful "pard", my living shadow, and the love of my life.
Happy trails. Tight lines. Forget not your sketchbook...
Representative Galleries, Current Exhibitors & Creative Memberships
SAGE Community Arts Center Member's Gallery 21 W Brundage, Sheridan, WY
Expressions Art Gallery 645 Broadway, Sheridan, WY
MainFrame Art Gallery 17 E Grinnell Plaza, Sheridan, WY
Washakie Museum & Cultural Center 2200 Bighorn Ave, Worland, WY
The Hitching Post Gallery 51 S Main St. Buffalo, WY
Wyoming Watercolor Society
Sheridan Artists' Guild et.al. (SAGE)
The Brinton Museum
The Russell Museum
Wyoming Arts Council Directory Listing
Made in Wyoming Directory Listing