Paintings by Rebecca Blue • Exhibit runs from Nov 5, 2022 to Jan 5, 2023.

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Hiking has always been a hobby of mine, but when I started teaching on the Navajo Reservation in 2013, my hiking level went from beginner to expert level in a matter of months. In my first year there I hiked the Canyons of the Ancients, Arches, Canyonlands, Natural Bridges, and more, while documenting everything with photographs. Even after I moved back up to the Salt Lake Valley, I made time to go back to various parts of Southern Utah to hike the beautiful red rock landscapes that I had fallen in love with.

Right before the pandemic I started painting in a color blocking style, and started this off with a painting of four horses. I moved on to paint a Utah landscape on my studio wall, and after this painting, I completely fell in love with what I had created. From there, I continued this style with paintings of Utah landscapes from all over the state. These are my colorful Utah landscapes, which were what I used to escape to during the pandemic, and the majority of the paintings were done in 2021. They were my way of experiencing Utah through a new lens, and because they are similar to creating my own large scale coloring book pages, a way to connect to my environment in a mindful way.

ARTIST BIOGRAPHY:

Rebecca Blue has been an art teacher in the state of Utah for the last nine years. She has consistently taught painting, drawing, and foundations during her teaching career. She received a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Teaching from the University of Utah in 2013, and a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University in 2019. She continues her education by taking various art classes throughout the year, while also participating on the Utah Art Education Association board as the Drawing PLC lead and Share Fair Coordinator, while also enjoying the many classes delivered by the conference.

She has been currently making many art compilations during the pandemic, as a way to deal with the stress that has been plaguing the world for the past few years.