Show Preview | Mary Baxter - Southwest Art Magazine

Houston, TX
William Reaves | Sarah Foltz Fine Art, March 31-April 29

Mary Baxter, Sunset, Guadalupes, oil, 30 x 72.

This story was featured in the April 2017 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art April 2017 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

As Mary Baxter looks out over the sprawling landscape dotted with cattle on her ranch in West Texas, she is struck by the tranquil quietness that envelops her. The blue sky, dry earth, and intense sunlight inspire a deep love that drives her to paint. In her first solo exhibition at William Reaves |
Sarah Foltz Fine Art, Baxter presents a body of all-new works from various national parks. The show, titled Mary Baxter: Painting Far West Texas, begins on Friday, March 31, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 8, from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Baxter also returns to the gallery on Saturday, April 22, for an artist’s talk from 2 to 4 p.m. The show features over 40 works, from small plein-air studies to large canvases.

: Mary Baxter, Dog Canyon, oil, 50 x 50.

: Mary Baxter, Dusk, Two Black Cows, oil, 50 x 42.

Baxter, who has worked with the gallery for about five years, has always been interested in art. But when she began to create small paintings of her isolated world, she didn’t think other people would understand them. “There’s a certain quietness that I like about it, but I would be on the ranch and think, ‘No one would get this,’” Baxter says. “I didn’t think there was enough going on for people to be interested in it.” But her pieces began selling at a local gallery, and she continued to grow from there.

Over the past year, Baxter completed an artist’s residency where she painted in areas around the Big Bend and Guadalupe Mountains National Park. Her use of color accurately depicts the dry, hot atmosphere that West Texas is known for. Baxter says she has been told that her paintings lack the atmospheric qualities that often dominate those depicting places with more humidity or pollution. She tries to work as loosely and quickly as possible when painting. “It’s a constant battle to get it down right the first time and not overwork it,” Baxter says. “I think I’ve improved on getting it down right the first time. My best paintings happen very quickly.” —Mackenzie McCreary

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