Artist Directory
This directory is a free online resource that features Mat-Su Valley artists. If you would you like your artwork to be featured here, please see the form below for all the details.
Mat-Su Artists
Meagan Blessing spent her formative years hiking and camping in the backcountry wilderness, packing on horseback, and living and working in various western states from Montana to Alaska. These experiences gave her a deep appreciation and respect for the wildlife she observed as well as the many horses she has had the pleasure of partnering with in her exploratory endeavors. Today, Meagan’s love of the wide open spaces and wild inhabitants of the West informs her paintings. Her ‘Modern Wild’ series features wildlife subjects rendered in a contemporary realist style with abstract influences. Utilizing color, light, and design, Meagan personifies her animal subjects with a sense of wonder and a modern aesthetic that is continually evolving and increasingly evident in her work. Meagan’s work has been shown in national exhibitions, including The Russell: Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the C. M. Russell Museum, and The Russell: Art in Action, Great Falls MT, The Mountain Oyster Club Art Show & Sale, Tucson AZ, Art in the West: High Desert Museum, Bend OR, Out West Art Show & Sale, Great Falls MT, Cheyenne Frontier Days Western Art Show, Cheyenne WY, and America’s Horse in Art Exhibition: AQHA Museum, Amarillo TX. She has been featured in various publications including Western Art & Architecture, Big Sky Journal, Western Art Collector, and Southwest Art.
“There is something very special to me about the quiet, wild places; it is their whisper that captivates my hand to create.The mountains can shout at their postcard pullouts, and the bear can pound his chest and roar his dare and breathe spit and fire and fear, yet my easel remains vacant. My inspiration is borne in the subdued shadows of the superlatives, where a triumphant scene is reduced to the stroke of light on a figure, a glow, a reflection.I work in black and white in deference to the role light plays in a moment. Charcoal is raw and simple and brutal, and while it can be willed to produce fine detail, I use detail ever more sparingly, as I am coming to appreciate that our minds fill in a scene far more convincingly than extraneous detail ever could. I cannot add to Nature’s splendor. I am simply thankful for every day that I can try to tell a small part of her whispered story through my art.”
“It’s never been enough for me to enjoy something on my own. As soon as I find out something worth knowing or experiencing, I want to tell ten people about it. I feel that having a sense of connection with the world and each other makes our lives richer, and by extension, the world a better place. When I paint, I’m focusing my attention and yours on those seemingly commonplace moments that are exquisitely beautiful.”
“I make a variety of creative, homemade items from a log cabin in rural Alaska. Doing things the old fashioned way, with hard work and a smile, I love working with fabric & am always inventing new projects with an Alaskan flair. Share the adventure!”
“My work has been progressively growing for almost 40 years now. I’ve won several awards over a short time in the past year and a half since I started showing and selling publicly.”
“For the past 9 years, I have taught oil painting in my studio, Paoletti Studio of Art, offering learning opportunities for both beginners and advanced students. I believe it is my privilege to teach the means of making art, not the ends; hoping to give students the skills they need to express their own creative idea. I also host a variety of different portrait, landscape & wildlife art instructors from the lower 48 in my studio. This gives Alaskans the opportunity to learn from well-knownn professional artists, right here in Alaska, without the added travel expenses. Living in Alaska has allowed me to embrace Plein air painting, with the majestic landscape offering never-ending inspiration. I’ve participated in many group shows in galleries & businesses and I am a current member of the Portrait Society of America & American Women Artists. I have served as a board member of the Valley Fine Arts Association, and I am past president & current board member of the Pastel Society of Alaska.”
Haley Ray
The Snow Finch
Medium: Digital Painting, Acrylic, Watercolor
Haley is the owner and full time artist behind The Snow Finch. She runs a one-woman illustration studio in Wasilla, specializing in animal, floral, and nature inspired art.
Todd Wicks
Medium: Exterior Acrylic Latex Painted Barn Quilts
“These Barn Quilts are made for outdoor display from 1/2″ MDO sign board plywood, sealed edges with exterior sealant, 4 coats of exterior primer, and exterior house paint is used for the design. Sizes vary from 9″x9″, 12″x12″, 18″x18″, & 24″x24″. I can do custom Barn Quilts in any size up to 48″x48″.”
Submit Your Artist Listing
Interested artists may complete this registration form including images of original artwork or handmade items that they have created. Listings consist of the information provided. The Palmer Museum of History and Art reserves complete discretion in deciding whether to list submitted information, along with the right to edit submitted information for grammar, brevity, and taste.