Artists to Watch
THE EDITORS’ CHOICE FOR UP-AND-COMING TALENT
22 WWW.SOUTHWESTART.COM • AUGUST 2019
Julie Nighswonger
The peaceful West
USUALLY, FOR Julie Nighswonger, it’s
the quiet, unhurried scenes around her
home in rural southeastern Wyoming
that inspire her to put brush to canvas
or charcoal to paper. A mare nuzzling
her foal, early-morning fog drifting over
a creek, or a couple of ranch hands si-
lently driving a herd of cattle forward—
all of these sights have been worthy of
the artist’s attention as a fi rsthand ob-
server. “I won’t paint anything I don’t
know or haven’t seen,” notes Nigh-
swonger, who routinely works en plein
air. “I feel like you have to see it or feel
it—the warmth of the sun, the smell of
the horses. Without feeling it fi rst, I
don’t think you could portray the emo-
tions you want to get across.”
This year has been a busy one for
the artist. Her oil paintings and char-
coal drawings have traveled the circuit
of top western art exhibitions like the
Mountain Oyster Club Western Art
Show, Settlers West Galleries’ Ameri-
can Miniatures, and Cowgirl Up!, to
name a few. Meanwhile, Nighswonger
also garnered an award in American
Women A r t ists’ spr i ng
online show. “This year
has been unbelievable,”
says the artist, thrilled
for the prestigious ex-
posure but also relieved
to be settling back into
her routine at home after
many weeks on the road.
Nighswonger fondly
refers to her local sur-
roundings as her offi ce.
On any given day, she
may set up her pochade
box in a horse pasture,
or she may ride along-
side her cowboy friends
and neighbors to snap
photographs as they tend
to their ranch work. The
artist is no stranger to
the world she draws and
paints. She grew up on
her family’s farm in Min-
nesota, where she formed an intimate
connection to the land and the animals.
Later, she worked on a ranch in Jack-Mother’s Touch, charcoal, 40 x 40.The Working Triangle, oil, 16 x 30.
son, WY, where she fell in love with the
mountains, wide-open spaces, and the
cowboy lifestyle. “The West just pulled
me in,” she says.
Horses make a notably strong ap-
pearance in Nighswonger’s oeuvre. She
studied veterinary technology in col-
lege, and today her affection for horses
and other animals carries over into her
sensitive, often moving renderings of
them. “I want my work to be emotion-
al or spiritual,” says the artist, whose
infl uences range from Bob Kuhn to An-
drew Wyeth. “And I usually want it to
be calm and colorful, but in a subdued,
tonal type of way.” —Kim Agricolarepresentation
Deselms Fine Art, Cheyenne, WY;
http://www.julienighswonger.com.