Desert Waves

STATEMENT & BIO:

The desert is my inspiration. Watercolor and a myriad of techniques is my favorite medium. I have always been captivated by the sky and many of my favorite works include that element as a focus as I draw attention to some of my favorite locations in the National Park. There is a spirited sense of imagination in the colors I use and the forms I suggest, all in the hopes that I open the door for imagination. Most of my subjects end up being the Joshua tree, as I love the wild forms and crooked limbs of the plant, yet you might spot the occasional wild creature hiding somewhere in my work as well. My aim will always be to capture a fleeting moment that might inspire a person to go adventuring themselves. I hope to share the mood I was in when I saw it, and maybe, just maybe invoke that same spirit in the viewers of my work.

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Lucky to have grown up around artists her entire life, Raini Armstrong has attended art shows around the country and has been exposed to fine art and crafts from their creation to their sale. Her love for the art world only grew when she began dabbling in photography and watercolors.

Influenced early on by the care artists took in capturing moments in their pieces, Raini too tries to capture those fleeting moments of life that too often get overlooked. Raini is mostly self-taught in the arts and crafts she enjoys, though she holds dear the classes she took from Elsie Grace in the early 2000s. Elsie was never shy with her use of vivid color and had a contagious energy in her paintings that truly spoke of her love of life. Raini too hopes to express her view of the world with such energy, just as her watercolor teacher had done.

Raini has called the desert her home for over twenty years now and she still cannot get over how brilliant the skies are, how magnificent the vistas and rock cathedrals are and how lively nature can become only to slip into near silence during the heat of the day. The desert provides endless opportunities for art; Raini simply attempts to convey the beauty she sees and share it with her friends and family.