Teri Sweeney spent 35 years living and working in Phoenix, Arizona, but it took a move to a rural ranching community in Northern Nevada to spark her interest in painting Western subject matter. Living in an area surrounded by cattle ranches and horses, she found the perfect subject matter to match her desire to paint in the detailed representational style she loves.
During her years in Arizona, Teri worked as an Interior Designer, owning and operating her own studio while perfecting the techniques in watercolor that would define her own style. After moving to Gardnerville, NV, she opened an art gallery, but soon realized that she was unable to work on her own art career while she was busy promoting the gallery and other artists. After making the tough decision to close the gallery, she began painting full time and expanded her choice of medium from exclusively watercolors to also working in oils. Having the ability to work in both mediums, she is able to choose the one best suited for her vision of each prospective painting.
An attraction to the textures of landscape influences the majority of paintings that Teri produces. Living in the Carson Valley on the Eastern slope of the Sierra a short distance from Lake Tahoe, she has the opportunity to find a variety of subject matter within a few minutes drive from her home. Mountain waterfalls, grassy meadows, and of course, the local ranches are all easily available year round in all the colors of the seasons.
With frequent visits to family in Wickenburg and Williams Arizona, desert scenes are also a common subject. Being able to portray each element of the landscape; be it the geometric surface of a rock, the stately shape of a saguaro cactus, rippling water or the curve of a stalk of grass; is the goal in each and every one of Teri’s paintings. Of course, local livestock and cowboys/cowgirls pursuing their daily tasks enter into her landscapes and quite frequently become the main subject in more than a few of her works.
Teri’s art has recently been accepted into such National Western shows as the Western Masters Show and Sale and the Russell Auction in Great Falls, MO, The San Dimas Festival of the Arts in San Dimas, CA, The Phippen Show in Prescott, AZ the Mountain Oyster Club, in Tucson, AZ, and The Cowgirl Up! (Art from the Other Half of the West), Annual Invitational Exhibition and Sale in Wickenburg, AZ. Her work has been shown in galleries in South Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes, CA, Tucson, AZ and Kauai, Hawaii, and has hung in the Haggin Museum in Sacramento, CA.
Ever the perfectionist, Teri’s work continues to grow in her pursuit of creating beautiful representational images of her surroundings. She continues to strive for imagery that will intrigue viewers of her art and leave them with the feeling of wanting to linger in the scenic splendor of her paintings.