Pastel artist Arlene Braithwaite lives in southwest Utah, where she is continually inspired by the area’s many canyons and expansive plateaus. After earning a master’s degree from the University of Utah, she enjoyed a lengthy career teaching art at Southern Utah University. Now, she paints full time, while exploring the incredible landscapes near her home.

Arlene prefers the pastel medium, in part because of its sense of immediacy, but also because of her ability to gain direct contact with the pigment. With each layering of pastel, she is able to experiment with bold and subtle hue mixtures. Each painting gives her the opportunity to manipulate color, shape and edge to interpret reality in a unique way.

"My work is inspired by the land around me, a subject I find continually changing, challenging and rich with catalysts for composition. I am attracted to the dramatic and the transitory in the inanimate reality of rocks and sky.”

Arlene’s paintings have been shown in solo exhibitions at the Springville Art Museum, the St. George Art Museum, the Utah Museum of Natural History and Zion National Park’s Museum of Human History. Along with numerous awards and recognitions, Arlene has been featured in a variety of magazines. She also shares her love of pastels through presentations and workshops.