Becoming a plein air and impressionist painter seemed to be inevitable for Darcie Peet. By age 3, she was drawing. By age 5, she was in love with the West, cowboys, horses and mountains. From the sixth grade on, she was in advanced art classes and taking advanced drawing classes at Carnegie Mellon Institute. Add to that her mother’s love of all the arts, which made going to art museums a frequent family activity.

The family also spent time outdoors, and Darcie’s drawings and paintings of horses and mountains covered her bedroom walls. She traveled in Paris, where she could see more of the work of Monet and other Impressionists.

Chicago-born, Darcie grew up in Pennsylvania, lived many years in Colorado, and now resides in Tucson. After receiving a degree in fine arts – painting at Colorado College, she spent more than 20 years in advertising, and graphic arts, and then earned her master’s degree in interior design from the University of Colorado. That education and experience, plus her lifelong love of art and the outdoors combine to make her plein air and Impressionistic landscapes outstanding.

Her work has been in solo and regional shows at Grand Marais, MN, and in several shows in the Southwest, including Tucson. Her work was deemed “Best and Brightest” of the 1999 Scottsdale Artist’s School Exhibit. Honors have included an Award of Excellence from the U.S. Industrial Film Festival for co-producing a documentary film, and first place fine arts awards in contemporary painting and serving as a project design team member for the Children’s Museum in Denver.

Her paintings catch a quick glimpse, fragment, or oint in time, many completed on-site. A horseback rider most of her life, she takes backcountry rides with her husband, taking along sketchbook and camera.

Written by Dale Walton, courtesy of Art Life Arizona