Brenda Edwards

A friend came to visit me recently who bought a painting from me many years ago (1992) when I was doing a one woman exhibit at what is now the Tempe History Museum, but was once the home of Tempe Little Theatre. When Marjorie came in the house and saw my new work she said, its very beautiful, but I like your old stuff better. I could appreciate her sentiment, she has not seen me for quite a long time (1995), and we had gotten busy and dropped off in communication, and much has changed in both of our lives since 1995. When she knew me I was doing theatre, but I was still painting – the work was figurative, alluding to dance – a little surreal, a little architectural, a little angry and usually a bit too “frightening” for your average buyer. Marjorie was/is not your average buyer.

My life is a continual evolution – I am never so self-satisfied that I do not change my perspective. After years of acting and writing for the theatre, stopping almost cold turkey in 2002, Jere and I reinvented our home by building a studio addition. Honestly, I was shocked that I started painting again. I had really expected I would do something else – something a little more multi-media… but the light in the studio is so overpowering (I have never enjoyed such light), and the desert surrounding me had already been seducing me for 6 years, so when I picked up the brush, what came forth was a reflection of my surroundings and a long neglected love of painting. I have always loved the desert, but I never truly appreciated it until I moved into this house and wandered into the South Mountain Preserve near my home early one morning, where I was immediately entranced. Hours and hours of my life since have been spent wandering the desert near my home.

But that doesn’t mean I won’t change. That doesn’t mean that my art will not continue to evolve. Hopefully I will continue to find new ways of expressing what I see, and in doing so, continue to be interested in myself and in the art (whatever art) that I do. I am not a “Southwestern Artist” – I am an artist who loves nature and lives in the Southwest – but that doesn’t mean a visit north will not yield a painted forest. The work will continue to grow and change, and I will continue to paint what is truly interesting to me… and it would be great if it remained interesting to you (and even Marjorie).